Three Times Charmed
by ashleydolphin18
Summary: It's 2025 and the kids have taken over. A new threat is on the horizon. One that could take them all out. Will this be the beginning of the end or will they save themselves and the world yet again. 1st of 3 books. NaNoWriMo story. Rated T. See more inside
1. Meet The Characters

Plot Summary:

Charmed Fanfic: Its 2025 and there is a new threat on the horizon. Prue is brought back from the dead along with Andy and Cole. With all nine kids and their parents (and some special help), this battle (the apocalypse they soon find out) still might be enough to take them all out. With all the death and destruction around them, they will have to decide if they really are fighting for the greater good. With many twists and turns, lots depression, a small love story, friendship, illness, family, morals, and the story of a group of kids that would give their lives to save the world, have fun and ready to be pulled in for the ride... NaNoWriMo Story

Rating: PG-13 for profanity, violence and some mild adult themes. The story is over all very violent and has lots of death and destruction. Two supporting characters are pregnant. There is uncensored profanity throughout the whole book.

Note: This story doesn't use any of the information from the comics (because I haven't read them and don't want to), and it has my own twists in it. For example- Billie is dead (because I hated her).

Also, So I don't have to say this a billion times: I DO NOT OWN CHARMED OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. All characters besides this ARE mine though along with the plot. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. This is only for ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY.

Chapter One: Meet the Characters:

The Cast from the Series:

Piper Halliwell (52) is married to Leo Wyatt and is the mother of three wonderful children- Wyatt, Chris and Melinda Halliwell. She is also the proud owner of a club called P3 and a restaurant called The Elemental. She still lives at the manor, though her sisters have moved out with their families. Her powers haven't advanced much since she had kids, but they have definitely gotten stronger. She still holds The Power of Three with her sisters.

Leo Wyatt (50) is married to Piper Halliwell and is the father of Wyatt, Chris and Melinda Halliwell. He is the Head Master and Substitute teacher at Magic School. He is mortal now which is why Melinda does not have the power to orb or any other white lighter powers.

Phoebe Halliwell (50) is married to a cupid named Coop. She is the mother of three beautiful daughters- Patricia, Patience, and Penelope Halliwell. She has taken up a column at The Bay Mirror, titled after her best-selling book, Finding Love. Phoebe has passed on her advice column to her eldest daughter, Patty. She has earned back her powers after proving she could handle them. Her empathy power has greatly advanced into telepathy and the ability to use someone's emotions against them. Obviously, Phoebe never kills Cal Greene. She lives in the house directly to the right of Piper and Leo. This is the house that Dan used to live in. She moved here right after marrying Coop so she could still be close enough to her family, but so she could spread out and start a family. She still holds The Power of Three with her sisters.

Coop (unknown age but looks 49) is still a cupid. He is married to Phoebe Halliwell and is the father of Patricia, Patience and Penelope. He lives with Phoebe and his two youngest daughters- Patience and Penelope, after Patricia moved out into an apartment. Coop is still a full time cupid, along with taking care of his family.

Paige Matthews (48) is married to a mortal named Henry Mitchell and is the mother of Henry Jr and twin girls named Peyton and Primrose (Rose). She has become a full time white lighter, finally truly embracing her whitelighter side. Her whitelighter powers are definitely getting stronger. She has also developed an ability to create a shield of orbs. She still holds The Power of Three with her sisters. Paige, Henry and Henry Jr (due to the twins being off in college) live on the other (left) side of Piper and Leo.

Henry Mitchell (49) is Paige Matthew's wife. He is also the father of Henry Jr and the twins- Peyton and Primrose (Rose). Although, Henry is mortal, he is a skilled fighter and negotiator. He is also pretty strong, being able to hold his own weight in a fight. He has continued his work as a parole officer, while he tries to understand the magical world.

Prue Halliwell (dead, but appears 30) is now a whitelighter. After she died, she worked as a whitelighter for 24 years, before finally being able to show herself to her sisters and their families. She is just as hard working and determined than before she died, trying to help her sisters with the new threat. She has all of her powers from before she died (without The Power of Three) plus her new whitelighter abilities.

Piper and Leo's Children-

Wyatt (Wy) Matthew Halliwell (24, turning 25) is the eldest son of Piper and Leo. He is half whitelighter and half witch. Wyatt is the twice blessed child and the first male witch in all of his family history. He is married to Kate and has moved out with her after sharing an apartment with his younger brother, Chris for 3 years.

Powers: All basic witch and whitelighter abilities, Telekinetic orbing, combustive orbing, energy waves, projection, high resistance, voice manipulation, force fields, telekinesis, pyrokinesis (the ability to manipulate and control fire and heat), and technopathy (the ability to control technology). He also has The Power of Nine when he is with his cousins. He can wield Excalibur as well, but due to its strength, he rarely uses it.

Personality: The "Other" Chris was able to save Wyatt from turning evil. Wyatt grew up without even knowing who the "Other" Chris is. He's very over protective of his family, especially his little sister. He has a strong dislike toward the Elders, due to them taking his Father away in his early years. He is very powerful and seems to have a large ego. The young man is strong and brave. He is terrible with advice and turns to Patty, Phoebe's oldest daughter for help. Often, the young man has been known to be talkative and ramble on and on. He is pretty easy going unless himself or his family are in danger, where he automatically steps up and turns into a leader, pushing the silliness aside. He has been known to be a prankster and sarcastic at times. Due to his past (and new knowledge of his alternate reality), he is cautious and careful, especially around demons.

Christopher (Chris) Perry Halliwell (22) is the middle child and youngest son of Piper and Leo. He is half witch and half whitelighter like his older brother. He has always kept the brief and vague memories of "the other Chris", but could never really understand them until his 22nd birthday. On his 22nd birthday, he discovered the truth, making it very clear about his alternate reality. Keeping it hidden for a couple months, he gave in under the pressure to tell the truth and finally revealed the information to his brother and rest of the family. Chris was able to save his mother from being killed when he was 14 due to Wyatt and Leo coming when Chris called out for help. They orbed in just in time to heal Piper. He also fixed things with his father in his early years after Leo was hit with the reality that he was a neglectful father to Chris in the future. Chris doesn't hate him like his other self did. He has been engaged to Nikki for four months.

Powers: All basic witch and whitelighter abilities, telekinesis, and telekinetic orbing. He hasn't gotten the ability to heal yet, but is working on it and hopes to soon.

Personality: Chris has a good sense of humor and very kind, but often neurotic. From his other self, he is secretive, independent, stubborn and smart. He is also hard-working and careful. Chris is a quick learner and does pretty well in school. He has become very serious about demon hunting, almost obsessive at one point. He has calmed down now that he is a soon to be father. Chris is careful, in fear of someone getting hurt (or even killed). His other self scares him a lot, but it shows how determined and brave he was (and still is).

Prudence Melinda (Mel) Halliwell (18) is the youngest child and only daughter of Piper and Leo. This is the daughter that Piper had when she, Phoebe and Prue visited the future in 1999. Though, this isn't the same one because they changed the future for the better. Everyone calls her Melinda or Mel, not to confuse her with Phoebe and Piper's eldest sister, Prudence. Since Leo was human when she was born, she isn't half whitelighter. She is a full witch and often feels helpless, being the only of her cousins that can't orb or beam. Even with her rare ability to mimic other's powers, she still has resentment toward her family. She hates the feeling of vulnerability. Her brothers make it hard for her to date or even go to parties as they are over protective. She has developed a feeling of annoyance towards them because of this. Being born in the manor and her power to mimic others often tapping into demonic powers, she is easily swayed to evil like her older brother, Wyatt and aunt, Phoebe.

Mel's powers are simple- basic witch abilities and power mimicking. She didn't inherit any of her powers from her parents except for her basic witch abilities. Power mimicking is a rare ability to "use" other people's powers that are within a certain distance. She has no clue where the strange ability came from, and it doesn't matter because she loves it so much. Mel has not discovered how far this distance truly is, yet. The wonderful gift makes her feel powerful because it allows her to have a lot of powers if she is near her family, but it doesn't work very well if she is alone. She is also learning martial arts with her cousin, Patience to protect herself where her powers are lacking.

Personality: Melinda is fun and sweet. She has a rebellious side because of her family's constant protection. She loves demon fighting and everything about being a witch. Melinda has abused her powers in the past and quickly learned about personal gain and consequences, but this doesn't stop her from loving her powers. Mel loves her family greatly as well and would rather give up her life than see any of them get hurt. The young woman has a strong will and great determination, but can be foolish. She often feels like she is the weakest and because of this, demons target her. They tend to prey on this thought to turn her evil or even against her family. Mel is often underestimated by the demons, but what she lacks in powers, she makes up for in her smarts and wits. She is quickly angered and has quite a temper, which she has developed from her mother. She loves shopping and hanging out with her friends, especially at parties. She doesn't currently have a boyfriend due to her family, but would like one.

Phoebe and Coop's Children-

Patricia (Patty) Kyra Halliwell (20) is the eldest daughter of Phoebe and Coop. She was named after her deceased grandmother and the seer that Phoebe and her sisters tried to save. Patricia is half cupid and half witch. She is the first Cupid-Witch hybrid. She has chosen to take up her mother's advice column. The young woman likes relationships and love, but is currently too busy to maintain a steady relationship. Patty has moved into her own apartment while she is in college.

Patty's powers include all basic witch abilities, beaming, empathy, premonition, healing, and sensing. Due to not becoming a true cupid and becoming an advice columnist instead, she does not have a cupid ring and thus, not the powers that come with it. Patty has not quite learned how to shut off her empathy power and it drives her and her family crazy some times.

Personality: Patty is serious and committed, often like her diseased aunt. She is focusing on helping others find love just as her mom had. She is very good at giving advice. Patty is hard working and is going to college to improve her column. She is positive and creative. She has been known to be a workaholic at points, again, like her aunt Prue. Patty loves to annoy people, especially Wyatt and Chris, by tapping into their emotions without expressed permission and using them against them.

Patience (Pat) Destiny Halliwell (18) is the middle daughter of Phoebe and Coop. It is unknown why Patience has her first name (probably due to the tradition of P names). Pat gets her middle name from the Angel of Destiny, the angel that allowed her mom and aunts to have a chance at a normal life after they vanquished the source. She is a cupid-witch hybrid like her sisters. She tends to hang out with Melinda due to being closest in age to her. Mel is her best friend. Pat dislikes being confused or judged because of her older sister. Often, people mistake them for each other, because they look similar, when they are completely different.

Powers: All basic witch abilities, beaming, levitation, healing, and sensing. She never became a full cupid and never received her ring, thus not earning the powers of it. She is training with Mel to become a martial artist.

Personality: Patience is more of a tom-boy. She plays volleyball, soccer, tennis and is training in martial arts with Mel. She loves to explore and is very adventurous. She loves creating as well. Pat likes staying busy and is always doing more than one thing at once. She is also rebellious and hates listening to people. The girl is very independent and stubborn. Even with her rough tom-boy attitude that she tend to hide behind, she is a really softie inside. The young woman is always there for everyone. She always has a shoulder to cry on if you would ever need it. She is sweet and sensitive.

Penelope (Penny) Julie Halliwell (14) is the youngest daughter of Phoebe and Coop. She is the youngest out of all of her cousins. She is named after her Great Grandmother and the alias Phoebe had used when she faked her death. Penny is half witch and half cupid. She looks up to her older sisters and cousins.

Powers: All basic witch powers, beaming, healing, and sensing. Due to becoming the family Cupid, she also has all of the powers of the ring. These powers include: telekinesis, time manipulation and travel, telepathic suggestion, freezing, and holograms. This also makes the ring her weak point because if someone gets it, she loses those powers. She received her ring for her 12th birthday and is still very bad at controlling its power.

Personality: Penny is carefree and fun like Phoebe was as a teen. She is often rebellious and careless. She loves to hang out with her friends and go to parties. Even though she is so young, she is completely interested in love and the bonds it has. She helps others find love and happiness. Even without a boyfriend, she is a hopeless romantic. Boys fascinate her, even though she has never had a boyfriend, date or even a first kiss.

Paige and Henry's Children-

Peyton (Pey) Helen Mitchell (19) is the eldest daughter to Paige and Henry. She is also older than her twin sister by 2 minutes. She likes to annoy her sister by being 2 minutes older. She is named after Paige's adoptive mother. She is in college with her sister.

Powers: All basic witch and white lighter powers, telepathy with her twin and anyone she can tap into if the connection is strong enough, and Aerokinesis. She has trouble controlling all of her powers. She didn't start getting her powers until she was 13 and has received her elemental power 3 months ago. All of Paige's children have one of the elementals (Wyatt has the fourth- Pyrokinesis), possibly due to Paige's past life.

Personality: Peyton is the calmer twin. She is laid back and passive, letting life come to her rather than going out and getting it for herself. She tends to be a wall flower, forcing her sister to have to drag her to a party. Pey would much rather be curled up with a good book, sketching or studying. She was afraid of her powers and still is and avoids using them.

Primrose (Rose) Agnes Mitchell (19) is 2 minutes younger than Peyton, making her the middle child. She teases her older sister about how their parents should have switched their names because her name was much more boring and Peyton's was much more outgoing ("Just like our personalities" Rose tells her older sister).

Powers: All basic witch and whitelighter powers, telepathy with her twin and anyone she can tap into if the connection is strong enough, and Hydrokinesis. Unlike her twin, she has control over her powers even though she didn't start getting her powers until she was 13 and received her elemental power 3 months ago. All of Paige's children have one of the elementals (Wyatt has the fourth- Pyrokinesis) possibly due to Paige's past life. She abused her powers many times and has just gotten over getting them bound yet again. She is beginning to pull it together, but has lost all trust from her family. Rose depends on her powers, and without them, she snapped out of her rebellion stage.

Personality: Rose is the exact opposite of Pey. She loves to party and have fun. She isn't a terrible student, but is the worst student out of all of her cousins. She has gone down the wrong paths before and did a few illegal things, but she is straightening out. The young woman has even landed herself in jail once (and we all know how happy her parents were to get that phone call, especially Henry, being a probation officer. The act was a huge embarrassment to him and he still has bitter feelings).

Henry Parker Mitchell Jr (Henry Jr) (17) is the youngest child of Paige and Henry. He is also the 3rd boy to be born, the first from Paige. He is very good at being a whitelighter. Henry Jr has become a full time whitelighter and focuses on his charges.

Powers: All basic witch and white lighter abilities, and Geokinesis (control of the earth and all of its natural elements). His white lighter abilities are of course the easiest to control for him. Geokinesis is his strongest, and he is still working on controlling it.

Personality: Henry Jr is pretty successful white lighter for a 17 year old. He has a bit of an ego. Henry Jr is known for being stuck up some times, but his charges are extremely important to him. They always come first, no matter what. He loves his family dearly and would do anything for them. He tends to fade into the shadows and is often stepped on by his cousins.

Other Characters (Good):

Katherine (Marie) Fischer (Kate) is a charge that at one point had been Wyatt's charge. They soon fell in love and dated a bit. He was devastated when she died of a bullet to the head and he went into a deep depression. 4 months after she died, they were reunited when they bumped into each other "Up There". They began to date again as they got to know each other better and got married last August. Piper was delighted to have another "daughter" in the family and immediately embraced Kate. Leo loved that his son had found such a wonderful lady and would make a wonderful wife and someday mother. She reminded all of them of Piper.

Powers: Basic White lighter abilities. Nothing special, but due to being Wyatt's wife, she has taken over Piper's role of Lady of the Lake. Wyatt is very protective of her, due to already losing her once, even to the point where she can think of him and he will be there for her.

Personality: Kate is motherly and sweet. Her mother in law has really rubbed off on her, and she is beginning to even follow Piper's example. She thinks of Piper as her mother as both of her parents died when she was only 4 years old. Kate is beginning to learn how to cook from Piper and loves it so far. She is fun and loving, having very good morals.

Nicole (Nikki) Lee Rodriguez (22) is Chris's fiancée. She was the other Chris's girlfriend went he was back in time. Nikki dated him on and off until he died. She was devastated when Chris died and spent months focusing on sending herself to Chris in the future. When she arrived, she found out that Chris had just gotten his memories from the other Chris. She told him everything about the past and Chris. He was able to prove she was correct and believed her. They only dated for 5 months before Chris proposed on top of the Golden Gate Bridge. She was beaten by her ex in the past before Leo, Chris and the sisters helped her out. She is a good friend of Piper and even works at her club. She has two tattoos- a dragon on her wrist and her initials behind her ear.

Powers: Basic witch powers and blowing things up. Chris is also very protective of her and will protect her in all ways possible.

Personality: Nikki is cute and snippy. She can be sarcastic and harsh, but still fun. She is strong and caring. Nikki was beaten by her ex in the past and has issues with being close to people. It takes a lot for her to trust you.

Minor Characters:

Jacob Dean Boatner (23) is a good friend of Piper's that works at her club. He lives in her neighborhood as well. He loves to hang out at the club and it always there to help anyone. He is a mortal. Jacob is cheerful and hyper. He loves to tease.

David (Dave) Bryce Renner (27) is the manager at Piper's club. He has worked at the club for years, but still doesn't know the Halliwells very well. He is serious and hard working. He is also a mortal. Dave loves his job, but he thinks Piper is hiding something. He is cautious for a variety of reasons.

Crystie Jade Sidden (16) is a student at Magic School. She is a bit of a know-it-all at times and is stuck up. Crystie has been known to be a bully to the other kids. She never talks about her family. She is a full witch. Her powers include: Conjuring, and enhanced senses. She has been destructive in the past. Her conjuring power has allowed her to conjure things she doesn't want by accident, therefor hurting people. Her enhanced senses sometimes make her go crazy or worse. She has just earned her powers back after having them bound for fourteen years. She still doesn't have a very good control over them.

Chester Brock Toan (17) is another student at Magic School. He hates school and does stuff just to irritate people. He is half demon from his father, and embraces it, but was raised by his mother to be good. Chester is rebellious, but his mother is very strict, forcing him to follow her rules.

Demons, Warlocks, Darklighters and Other Evil:

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse-

War (Zankou) is the leader of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. His role is to cause countries to go to war with each other. He is smart witted and is very good when it comes to making plans. War (Zankou) is the most intelligent and creative horseman and has the same talents now as he had when he was a demon. Fifteen years after his death, Zankou was summoned by the new source (the first woman source) to become War, The First Horseman of the Apocalypse. He has an Omega tattooed to his neck like all the other horsemen.

Powers: Zankou possessed many powers and abilities before he died and is the most powerful horseman, thus the leader. He also stole a bunch of powers. His powers include: Power Absorption, Energy Blasts, Energy Balls, Fire Balls, Teleportation-Fading, Prescience (the ability to sense attacks), Sensing, Acid Secretion, Conjuring, Sense Enhancement, Regeneration, Shape shifting, Telekinesis, Pyrokinesis, Super Strength, Premonition, Summoning, Spell Casting, Molecular Immobilization (freezing- what Piper can do),Remote Teleportation, Resurrection of the dead, Molecular Combustion, Adjusting (the ability to fight back against molecular attacks-freezing and exploding are the most common), High Resistance, Immortality, Immunity, Potion Making, and Scrying. He can also conjure horses.

Death (Barbas) is second in command. He fills in as the leader if something were to happen to War (Zankou). His job is to inflict and spread sickness in the world. He is also very smart, but not quite as smart as War (Zankou). Death (Barbas) is manipulative and deceiving. He likes to mess with people's mind and drive them to insanity or death. Even as Death, Barbas still likes to play with people's fears, and often uses Mental Illnesses rather than Physical ones to kill people. After his death, Barbas found yet another way out of Purgatory, but this time he came back as Death, The Second Horseman of the Apocalypse. He has an Omega tattooed to his neck like all the other horsemen.

Powers: Barbas still has all of his powers since before he died, but doesn't have quite as many powers as War (Zankou) and Strife (Cole). His powers include: Fear Projection, Fear Amplification, Astral Projection, High Resistance, Immunity, Hypnotic Suggestion, Telepathy, Deflection, Telekinesis, Immortality, Crushing, Force Field, Teleportation-Fading, Sensing, Energy Balls, Voice Manipulation, and Spell Casting. He can also conjure horses.

Strife (Cole)'s role is to provide conflict and havoc in humanity. Due to his role being very similar to War (Zankou)'s, they get into arguments easily. He has a human side and it forces him to be more vulnerable than the other horsemen. This also allows him to know how to destroy humans, though. Cole was brainwashed into being a horseman. He came back with the same powers he had as Balthazar (more advanced of course and his Horseman abilities). He has an Omega tattooed to his neck like all the other horsemen.

Powers: He has Balthazar's powers and the Horseman's abilities. His powers include: Energy Balls, Adjusting, Immunity, Immortality, Sensing, Super Strength, Telekinesis, Fading (Teleportation), Incineration, Conjuring, Apportation (A dark, orbless way of "orbing" things), High Resistance, Illusions, and Spell Casting. He can also conjure horses.

Famine (Tempus) is the most calm and rational of the horsemen. He is the peacemaker of the horsemen. He is wise and likes to think ahead. He never died, but this is his first appearance since 2001 when the Halliwell sisters, Leo and Cole had asked him to reset time so the exposure risk from Shax being caught on tape, was covered up. It took him 20+ years to recover from the incident, but now he is finally ready to get back out and fight. The Source summoned him to ask if he would like to become the fourth horseman of the apocalypse and he agreed. His role now is to create malnutrition and starvation in society. The source has told him to continue to rest his gift unless in dire need. He has an Omega tattooed to his neck like all the other horsemen

Powers: Famine (Tempus) has the least amount of powers out of the horsemen, but is every bit as strong. His powers include: Chronokinesis (the ability to manipulate time), Teleportation- Fading, High Resistance, Immortality, Immunity, and Spell Casting. He can also conjure horses.

The Source of All Evil (The Source) (Real Name: Desdemona, meaning 'of the devil') is the first woman source of all times. She was Zankou's wife before he cheated on her for the Seer, Kyra. Desdemona was furious with Zankou and divorced him immediately, working with the at-the-time Source to imprison Zankou. She then began to form a liking towards The Source and eventually married him. After The Source died in the hands of the Charmed Ones, she fought a power struggle and eventually took the throne. Desdemona was originally hated for being the first woman source, but she stayed in power. When Zankou was released, she didn't bother to force him back into imprisonment, letting him attack the Charmed Ones, while she stayed on top. Zankou attacked and killed Kyra, blaming her for seducing him and destroying his marriage. Desdemona has recreated the new four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Powers: Desdemona has a ton of powers. Her powers include: Fire Balls, Energy Balls, Luring, Shape shifting, Force blasts, Power Granting, Crushing, Banishing demons, Illusion casting, Pyrokinesis, Regeneration, Electrokinesis, Conjuring, Flaming, Adjusting, Immunity, Immortality, Force Fields, Mind control, Intangibility, Possession, Super Speed, Reconstitution, Resurrection, Portal Creation, Power extraction, Super Strength, Voice manipulation, Soul Projection, Dream Leaping, Telepathy, Summoning, Invisibility, and High resistance.

The Woman in the Mirror (Kali) is a demonic sorceress and dark High priestess. She lives in mirrors and other reflective surfaces and has been known to possess her victims if they touch the mirror. Her ultimate goal is to steal witches powers by turning them evil. Kali has been known to have advanced levels of pyrokinetic power. She is immortal and cannot be vanquished but you can get rid of her by smashing her reflection.

Powers: Kali's powers include: pyrokinesis, thermokinesis, fire balls, power granting, possession, power absorption, immortality, spell casting, potion making and scrying.


	2. An Unexpected Visitor

(Sorry about the lack of structure in the last chapter. This is my first Fanfic so go easy. Anyway, here's the story.)

Chapter Two: An Unexpected Visitor

Wyatt orbed into the kitchen. He looked around, wondering where everyone was. The young man hadn't seen his family all day, which was odd for his family. Of course, his family wasn't like any normal family. His family was from a line of witches that ultimately led up to his mother and aunts becoming The Charmed Ones. He was Piper Halliwell and Leo Wyatt's eldest son. He was the twice blessed. The prophesized. He was also the first male witch in this line. His family was definitely special. They were extremely close as well.

Wyatt walked into the living room. It was 4:30 pm and it might as well be midnight. He couldn't see to save his life. It was a rainy and over all, overcast day. A terrible day for a birthday. Where is everyone? Wyatt thought as he flipped on the light. Someone grabbed his shoulder from behind and he freaked, spinning around to see a room full of people.

"Don't do that to me!" Wyatt complained to his younger brother, Chris. Chris smirked.

"Not my fault! Did you think we forgot about your birthday? The prophesized? Twice Blessed?" Chris mocked.

Wyatt punched him in the shoulder lightly. "Shut up! You know I hate that!"

"Lighten up, Wy." His sister, Melinda replied, walking over to her brother. "He was only teasing. Besides, who can be upset on their birthday?"

"You do have a point there." Wyatt shrugged, getting overwhelmed with a sudden hug from his Aunts. They enjoyed spoiling him even though he was now 25.

"I can't believe you are 25 already. It seems like just yesterday you were born." His Aunt Paige commented. Phoebe came up behind her sister.

"Paige, you say that every year." Phoebe pointed out. Paige stuck her tongue out and scurried off to help Piper in the kitchen. Wyatt walked away to avoid further embarrassment from his aunts. Chris waved Wyatt over to where he and his cousins were hanging out. He took a seat next to his eldest female cousin. He felt a little down because his wife couldn't be there until later and was hoping for a bit of advice to make him feel better.

"Hey, birthday boy!" Patricia exclaimed "What's up?"

"Nothing, why?" Wyatt asked, suspiciously.

"You just seem to have a negative vibe of energy emanating off of you." Patricia replied.

"Patty! Stay out of my feelings!" Wyatt exclaimed.

"I can't help it. I'm an empath." Patty explained as she repositioned herself on the couch. Wyatt shrugged and turned to the rest of his family. He noted Melinda and Patience had wandered off to do something on their own, Peyton was curled up with a new mystery novel in the sun room, and Penelope and Primrose were arguing over some stupid girl thing. Chris had excused himself to go talk to his fiancé, Nikki. That left him and Henry Jr.

"Henry, what have you been up to lately? Any new charges?" Wyatt asked as he moved toward his younger cousin. Henry Jr was delighted by that fact that his cousin was willing to hang out and talk to him, even though he was much younger than Wyatt or Chris. He usually hung out alone because most of his siblings and cousins were girls or much too old to be bothered with him.

"I have a new charge. Her name is Cindy. She is the typical new witch, I guess. She doesn't know much about magic, new to her powers, whatever. Just basic stuff. Have you noticed demon activity has been down lately?" Henry Jr asked, clearly bored.

"Nah, It's probably nothing any ways. We both would have heard something from the Elders by now. Chris and Paige too. If it is something, we will handle it." Wyatt ended the conversation as Piper finished dinner and called everyone to the table. Everyone sat down at the extended table. Piper ended up buying a new table after Melinda was born so they fit everyone at family gatherings.

Wyatt took one end of the table with Chris and HJ to each of his sides. The food all looked delicious like they knew it would since Piper was an excellent cook. They were the firsts to dig into the food, with the girls soon after. The parents stared in awe at how much food their kids could eat. Paige was the first to crack a joke.

"Did none of you eat lunch or what?" She smirked, as the parents took reasonable amounts before it was gone. Mel soon brought up a conversation.

"Hey, Wy! Where's Kate?" She asked.

"She had to work late at the office. She should be here around 6 unless she gets a call from a charge." Wyatt explained, patiently taking a break from his food. Patty smirked, now understanding why Wyatt had felt so down earlier. His wife was a lawyer and a white lighter. She had been Wyatt's charge before she died from a knife to her stomach.

"Ah, I see. We can wait until then for cake." Mel replied, grabbing more food. Piper glared at her only daughter, who replied with a cocky smirk. Piper glared again giving her the I'm-going-to-talk-to-you-later look. Mel rolled her eyes. Phoebe saw the scene go down, obviously and jumped in.

"So, I'm going to start a question to pass around the table. My question is simple. What have you been up to lately and what's coming up? Who wants to start?... Coop?" Phoebe started the circle, turning to her husband. Coop nodded and began.

"Uh, Not much really. I am working on a couple whose fighting." The cupid shrugged, passing the question to Patty.

"Well, I'm going for the writer of the year award for my column. I think I have a good shot too." Patty explained.

"Congrats, Patty!" A couple people exclaimed, patting her on the back. Patty nodded with a smile, turning to Peyton. Peyton was a bit shy.

"Well, I finished a lab report for Chem and started a new book." Peyton said, passing it to her twin sister, Primrose. "What about you, Rose?"

"I have a party this weekend at Sarah's house." Rose said simply.

"Not if you don't get your school work done!" Paige said. "And who is Sarah?"

"The head cheerleader. She is a real bada-" Paige cut Rose off.

"Primrose Agnes Mitchell! I have told you over and over that we do not swear at the table." Paige lectured. Rose rolled her eyes. Paige slammed her and down on the table, causing it to rattle a bit and a few kids to jump. "I will NOT tolerate disrespect or disobedience. Orb yourself home, and I swear that if you leave the house, I will bind your powers again. Now march it!"

Rose growled and orbed back to her house, grumbling things about stupid parents and stupid rules. Paige excused herself from the table to go upstairs for a moment. Wyatt nodded for the next person to go ahead, which was Mel.

"I finally mastered my tornado kick last weekend when I was practicing with Patience in the basement. This whole martial arts training thing was actually a good idea for me when I'm alone and I don't exactly have powers. Speaking of demons, Wy, Chris, will you guys please let me take the next demon on my own then. I mean if mom and dad allow too. If I need help, I'll ask. I promise. Please." Melinda begged, turning to her older brothers. They exchanged a quick exchange between the two of them.

Wyatt spoke up. "Okay. We do have a couple guidelines though. It has to be during the day time and a lower level demon. I don't think any of us are quite ready to take an upper level demon. Even I bring Chris or someone with me if it's upper level. What do you think, mom and dad?"

Piper shrugged, glancing at her husband who nodded. "Well, you are a responsible adult and if you follow those guide lines, I don't see why not? If you need help though, you HAVE to ask. You don't quite have control over your powers or martial arts yet. Just be careful too."

Mel nodded. "Fine, but please don't bug me about it. I will be safe. I promise." Wyatt, Chris and the rest of the family nodded. "I guess it's your turn then, Patience."

"Not much. Like Mel, I also mastered my tornado kick and I'm happy." She said quickly, turning to her Uncle Henry.

"Well, I got 3 of my criminals today that I have been looking for. I have been looking for weeks for them and finally got them. On Thursday, l get to let one of my guys off of probation." Henry replied, turning to his only son, Henry JR.

"I have a new charge, Cindy, but it's just the usual." HJ shrugged, turning to Wyatt. Wyatt was about to speak when someone orbed into the next room. Their orbing though was a little off, much like someone who was just learning how to orb, and they fell down. Piper, Leo and Phoebe went to go inspect.

"Oh, My God! Is it really you?" Everyone heard Piper say. A dark haired woman nodded, standing up.

"Yes. It is." The woman said as Piper and Phoebe broke into a steady stream of tears that rolled down both of their cheeks. They ran to hug her in a solid, but gentle embrace. In the meantime, Coop, Henry and the kids came into the room and Paige had come downstairs. Piper and Phoebe were both crying as they hugged the brunette. She began to break down as well, but hiding them unlike the other two.

Paige stepped forward, getting a closer look. For some odd reason, she felt like she knew the person. The woman resembled her biological mother and Paige had no clue why. Her half-sisters, Piper and Phoebe clearly knew the woman. Paige just couldn't put a finger on it.

"Who is that?" Everyone whispered, circling around Wyatt and Chris since they were the oldest. Wyatt shrugged. The woman looked like his mother a bit, but he had no idea.

"I don't know. I have never met her." Wyatt whispered back. Obviously they weren't satisfied with Wyatt's answer, because they went to question Coop and Henry too, but neither had any idea.

Paige finally shouted out. "Oh, my God! Prue?"

The woman looked towards her and nodded. "Yes. And you must be Paige then." The kids and even the husbands were in shock.

(Prue's back… And she can orb! Please review so I know who's all reading my story. I'll update soon. Maybe even another chapter tonight)


	3. Explanations and a Few Breakdowns

Chapter Three: Explanations and a Few Breakdowns.

"Wait, So you are Prue? The super witch? My eldest aunt? I thought you were dead?" Wyatt questioned as he pushed away from his siblings and cousins. "Mom?"

Piper stepped away from her elder sister and dried the tears from her eyes and cheeks. She cleared her throat as if she was going to give an explanation. She wasn't exactly sure what to say. She had just as many questions as the kids. She turned to Prue for help. Prue smiled and stepped forward.

"Yes, I am. I am Piper and Phoebe's eldest sister. Paige's half-sister. Paige took my spot in The Power of Three when I died, but I'm back at least until the threat is dealt with." Prue explained.

Chris looked confused. "Wait, what threat?"

HJ's eyes widened. "Oh, crap! I knew this was coming. Demonic activity has been down for way too long. A new threat is coming."

"What are you talking about? How did I not hear about this?" Wyatt asked, angry.

"The Elders have known for a while, but it didn't seem this big. They didn't know what was exactly going on. They know now. The prophesy has been completed."

Peyton spoke up. "Don't go all Percy Jackson on me, please." Peyton complained.

"Peyton!" Paige exclaimed. She turned completely serious. "If there is a new threat that the Elders are worried about, then we should be worried too. This is serious. They have been very passive about letting us work our own battles. We haven't heard from them in months because there has been nothing too serious, but this is." Paige ranted.

"Paige is right. This is nothing to joke about. On October 31st of this year, you will be fighting a battle that has the strength to kill us all. This is the battle, Henry Jr has sensed and is the one you have trained for. This is YOUR Ultimate Battle. The Elders call it The Battle to End all Battles. This could end the world as we know it. This battle will push you to the edge. All of you might end up dead by the end, but not if we do our job correctly. You guys can do it, but we need to start training now." Prue explained, the seriousness and leadership in her voice echoing through the house.

"We can do this. The evil will not destroy us. We will stand strong until the end. None of us will give up. We will make it through and save the world. Come on, guys. We have to do this." Mel encouraged.

"Yes, We can. This is our destiny. We are here to do this. We can't back down. We have to fight for our lives and our world. Who's with me?" Wyatt asked, full of courage and strength. Wyatt held out a hand. Mel immediately stepped in and put her hand on top. Henry Jr stepped up to the challenge and put his hand in. Chris was skeptical, but stepped in followed by Patty. Patience followed with Penelope. Peyton bit her lip and nodded, bravely sticking her hand in.

"We need Rose to complete The Power of Nine." Patty pointed out, looking at Paige. Paige nodded and called for her daughter. What they didn't know was that Rose had orbed into the kitchen early and was eavesdropping on the conversation.

She stepped forward? "I'm in! Definitely!" he exclaimed, walking over calmly. Rose put her hand on top. "Let's do this on 3. 1... 2... 3!"

"Let's do this!" Everyone yelled out, throwing their hands up into the air. Piper was almost crying again. Wyatt saw this and turned to his mother.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

Piper smiled, in tears. "You guys are so strong and such a team. It makes me emotional to see the power and emotion behind this battle. I'm j-just scared ab-bout this-s." Piper couldn't talk anymore because she was crying hard, now. Leo walked over and held his wife.

"It's okay honey. They have the power to do this. They are ready." He hugged her as she cried into his chest.

Chris turned to Nikki. "I'm sure we will need your help too if this battle is as big as Aunt Prue says it is. Are you in?"

Nikki nodded. "Yeah, I'm in. I want to help in any way possible. So what do we do? How do we train for this?" Chris shrugged, turning to his aunt.

"Well, I haven't exactly told you everything yet." Prue explained. Everyone turned to look at her.

"What do you mean? There is more?" Patty questioned.

"Actually yes. I forgot to mention the fact that demons are slowly coming back. Demons that you and your parents have already vanquished. Barbas, Zankou, The Source, Shax and all other demons will come back. Phoebe, this does include Cole and Balthazar.

"Same thing." Phoebe spat, getting slightly angered.

"Yeah, I guess." Prue nodded, as Coop went to calm Phoebe down. She was more nervous to be honest. "The Elders aren't sure as to what side he will come back to."

Phoebe snorted. "Yeah. That's not much of a question. He's pure evil. Always has been." Phoebe was getting more angry even as Coop tried to calm her.

"Phoebe, I know I never really liked Cole, but he did have a human half and I know he loved you at one point. How can you say he never did?" Prue asked.

"How can YOU say that he did? It was my relationship and who says it wasn't all a trick?" Phoebe asked, pained on the inside. She had fallen for his tricks before and had to stay strong to avoid being tricked again.

"Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn't, but that's not the point. Anyways, we do know that the demons will be coming back in the order they were vanquished, but they might not necessarily attack in that order. Just be careful." Prue paused for a moment before she continued. "To answer Nikki's question, you can train by attacking the demons before they attack you. This will let you train without them being at full strength. Always keep potions on stock for a variety of demons. Also, each of you should practice your powers more and keep them "in shape" for any attack that may come. Memorizing the Book might help." Prue heard a jingling.

"Thank you, Aunt Prue." Patience smiled.

"I have to go. I will keep in touch though, I promise. See you soon." Prue said, orbing out.

Phoebe had zoned out to the last half of Prue's tip because she began to think about Cole. Sure, he could have loved her, but in the end, all he did was trick her. What if she fell for the tricks again? This made her nervous. She spent years trying to forget about Cole and now suddenly, he could and would be back. She had to focus on the fact that she was married to Coop to even focus enough to think. Cole kept drifting back to her mind, and her love for him to her heart. It was beginning to stress her out. Coop sensed Phoebe's negative emotions and stepped closer to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she responded by pulling him closer and leaning against him. She began to sob, leaning close to his chest.

Paige noticed Phoebe and Coop and sighed. She was in charge now since Piper and Phoebe were both emotional wreaks. Prue had also left. The whole responsible adult thing was definitely not for her. She had always been the youngest child and the cool, fun aunt and mom. Paige noticed that the kids were chatting away, excitedly and nervously in the corner. She called everyone's attention. They turned to look at her.

"Guys, I know the party was interrupted, but it's almost six. If we want to finish eating and cut the cake, we can. Then you guys can go off and do whatever you want" Paige told the kids, who sat back down to finish their food before it got to cold. None of the parents were in the mood to eat any more, and just waited.


	4. A Huge Surprise and Some Mean Teasing

Chapter Four: A Huge Surprise and Some Mean Teasing

Wyatt stood in front of his cake as his family sung an embarrassing version of Happy Birthday. He stood silently, waiting for it to be over. When it finally was, he blew out his candles. Wyatt wished for the battle to turn out okay. The young man then took a knife to cut the cake. He looked up at the clock, wondering where Kate was as he cut out pieces for himself and his family.

As Patty walked by, she whispered into Wyatt's ear. "Don't worry. She will be here soon." Wyatt wanted to yell at her for intruding on his emotions again, but her words were actually quite comforting. He smiled at her as she walked away.

Wyatt was cutting a piece for his mother when Kate orbed in. He was torn between running up to her and staying here to help with cake. Piper nodded, pushing him toward his wife as she took the knife from her son.

"Go ahead. I can handle this." Piper said, gently. Wyatt smiled.

"Are you sure?" Wyatt asked.

Piper nodded once more. "Yes. Go have a good time. Birthdays only come once a year." Wyatt walked up to his wife. He wrapped an arm around her and they sat down on the couch.

"Wy, I have to talk to you." Kate said, seriously.

"Yeah. Yeah. I know about the battle. Don't worry. It's nothing." Wyatt began.

"Wyatt..." Kate started again, but Wyatt kept talking.

"My cousins and I have it handled. The Power of Nine. We start training later." Wyatt began to ramble.

"Wyatt. You aren't listening to me." Kate said firmly.

"Kate, don't worry about it. We have the power. Plus most of the demons, we have already vanquished at least once." Wyatt continued.

"Wyatt! I'm pregnant." Kate practically shouted. The whole room quieted down.

"You're what?" Wyatt asked, stunned. He noticed everyone staring and told them to mind their own business.

"Wy, I'm pregnant. I found out last night. I didn't want to tell you until I knew for sure." Kate explained.

"First Nikki and now you? Did you take the doctor's test? Are you sure?" Wyatt asked.

"Yes, I just got back from the doctor's. Wyatt, the test was positive. You are going to be a father." Kate confirmed, with a huge smile. She placed one hand on the middle of her stomach.

"Kate, we have to talk about this. I mean, I don't know if I'm ready to be a father yet. With this battle, it might not be very smart to have a baby around or a pregnant woman either." Wyatt explained, concerned.

Kate looked like she was going to cry. She put another hand on her stomach, protectively. "Wyatt, this is your son or daughter you are talking about. The one that is growing inside me whether you like it or not. I refuse to not go through with this pregnancy. I will not abort him or her, nor will I give him or her up."

"I'm only concerned about his or her safety and yours too. The time this battle will go down would be right around your due date. I just don't think it's safe right now." Wyatt said, reaching out his hand to touch Kate's stomach.

Kate pulled away. "So what are you saying? I have to get rid of him or her?" Kate began to cry. The tears poured down her soft cheeks. Wyatt felt bad now. It wasn't what he meant, but in some way, it kind of was. He just majorly messed up and wasn't sure how to fix it.

"No. No. No. Kate, you know I love you and I always will. I will love him or her too. I promise. We just have to be careful. I don't want him or her or you to get hurt." Wyatt explained.

Kate looked up, hopeful. "You will?"

"Yes, of course I will!" Wyatt confirmed.

Kate scooted closer to lean into Wyatt's shoulder. "I'm sorry. You are right. He or she will be born around the time of the battle. What are we going to do?"

"I don't know. I honestly don't know. We will just have to take life as it comes at us. Okay?" Wyatt asked.

"Okay." Kate said, breaking into tears again. "What if you don't make it back? Or we hurt him or her in the process?"

"We won't. Honey, he or she will be born just fine. I will make it back. I won't leave either of you. I promise." Wyatt encouraged as he pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. "I still can't believe that first Chris's fiancé gets pregnant and now you. You women have terrible timing." He teased.

Kate smirked. "Well, you will just have to put up with us."

Wyatt chuckled. "Yeah. I guess so." He smiled and pulled her closer. Kate smiled and turned in his lap to kiss his lips, softly. Wyatt placed a hand, gently on Kate's stomach. Kate tensed for a second before calming down and snuggling back into Wyatt's shoulder.

Piper watched from the living room. "Oh, they look so cute together." She murmured.

Phoebe turned around. "Yeah, they look just like you and Leo when you were their age."

Piper shrugged. "I guess. I cannot believe I will be a grandmother already. I will have two beautiful grandchildren to spoil. They are just so young."

"Piper, they are 25 and 23 now. Not 16." Phoebe rolled her eyes.

"I know, but my sons will always be my little boys, no matter how old they get." Piper explained, as if it were obvious.

Patty groaned as she rubbed her temples. "I hate being an empath! There are too many emotions in this room!" She announced, irritated. "I will see you all later." With that statement, Patty orbed out.

Penelope released a sigh as she placed her head on the arm of the chair. She watched Wyatt and Kate with a smile. The 14 year old watched all the cute little things that they did. She was happy that Wyatt had found true love. Patience snorted when she noticed how Penelope was so engulfed in the emotion between the couple. She walked up behind her younger sister and grabbed the back of her neck. Patience then quickly ducked behind the chair as Penelope squealed.

Everyone turned to stare at Penelope, who flushed a deep red. "I-I'm... uh... sorry!" Chris frowned, disappointed that he wasn't the one to get the squeal out of Penelope. They loved to mess with her. Patience smirked from behind the couch. She crawled away silently to the sun room. Rose gave her a high five.

"That was awesome! Very well done." Rose smirked, clapping.

"Thanks, Rose. Was I too mean about it?" Patience asked, unsure.

"No. We have pretty much left her alone for days. She must have known it was coming." Rose replied.

"I still feel a bit bad for scaring her so much." Patience replied, felling guilty.

"You guys are mean! Look at her! She is terrified. I can't believe you did that. Especially you, Patience. She is still your sister!" Peyton lectured.

"Pey, don't lecture me! You are only one year older. You sound like my mother! She can't be that freaked out. I barely made her jump." Patience replied.

Peyton moved so they could see Penelope, who was almost in tears. "Does that look like she is okay? You really hurt her." Peyton explained before walking away.

Patience now felt really guilty. She walked up to her younger sister and wrapped an arm around the girl. "Hey, Pen. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you so much. I only wanted a little fun. Are you okay?"

Penelope looked up at her older sister and smiled. "I know. I just overreacted. That's it. I'm fine."

"No, It's not okay. You had every right to react the way you did. I was the one who tried to scare you. I shouldn't have and I did. I'm sorry." Patience explained.

Penelope pushed a light brown lock of hair out of her eyes. "Okay. I accept your apology. Just, please, don't do it again. Okay?"

"Okay." Patience agreed as she helped her sister up. "What do you want to go do?"

"I'm not sure. Whatever, I guess. What about you?" Penelope replied.

"Well, I have an idea..." Patience replied with a smirk.


	5. A Mistake is Made

Chapter Five: A Mistake is Made

"Well, we could go raid Aunt Piper's kitchen for all the sweets she leaves there. I'm sure Mel would know where she hides them. What do you think?" Patience proposed the idea.

Penelope looked to where Piper was and nodded. "Let's go find Mel!" Her sister nodded and they sensed for Mel. She was up in her room. They beamed in, to Mel's surprise.

"Hey, guys. What do you want?" Mel asked suspiciously, as she turned off her IPod.

"Why? We can't come visit our favorite cuz?" Patience asked.

"No. You can't. What do you want?" Mel asked.

"Okay. Fine. We wanted to know what you where your mom keeps her sweets. Do you know?" Penelope asked, cheerfully.

"Well, duh! Why do you think she has to make more so frequently? She hides them so Wy and Chris don't get at them. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I told you, but I'm coming with. I want one of her brownies." Mel explained, tapping into their beaming power to beam them all downstairs. Mel peaked into the room, to see her mother turn around. She pulled both of her cousins back, so they wouldn't be caught.

Piper took the plates off of the counter and cleared them off into a garbage can, a couple feet from the sink. The mother then put them into the dishwasher with some soap, turning it on. The woman placed her hands onto the counter and looked out the window. It was dark, but she could still see the wind rustle the tree branches. Piper sighed. She left the kitchen, almost seeing Mel and her cousins as they hid behind the corner.

Patience whispered to Mel. "Thanks, Mel. She almost caught us."

"No problem, Pat." Mel replied, looking around. "Coast's clear. Go!" Patience and Penelope snuck into the kitchen, followed by Melinda.

"Pen, go watch the door." Patience ordered. Penelope nodded, walking over to the door. Melinda opened up the third cabinet from the stove and oven. She stood on her tip toes to grab out a paper bag. Mel opened up the bag to reveal a batch brownies, some cookies and a chunk of homemade fudge that was yet to be cut. Patience licked her lips in anticipation.

"Come on, Mel! I'm starving." Patience exclaimed, impatiently.

"Be patient, Pat. And be quiet too. You are going to get us all caught. Besides, we ate like an hour ago." Mel replied, spilling the contents onto the counter.

"I should be quiet? You're the one who is making all the noise. And, sure I ate, but not sweets." Patience replied.

"Will both of you shut up? Piper's coming! Hurry!" Penelope warned from the door. Mel looked panicked as she fumbled with the food.

"Help me!" Mel hissed at Patience, who jumped to help. They barely grabbed the food and beamed out, when Piper entered the kitchen. She folded her arms across her chest.

"I swear I heard something!" Piper said to herself, before spying the open cabinet and the paper bag gone. "Mel, god, I'm going to kill her!" Piper said as she stormed out of the room. The mother went upstairs and banged on Mel's door.

All three girls jumped as they shoved the half eaten brownies into their mouths. Penelope and Patience hid the food in the closet, and Mel went to answer the door. Penelope and Patience faked like they had been chatting in Mel's room. Penelope sprawled out on the bed and Patience sat cross-legged on the fuzzy carpet and pulled out her phone to check her texts. Piper acted normal as she leaned against the door frame.

"So, what have you girl been up to?" Piper asked.

"Nothin'. Just talkin'. Why?" Mel replied, calmly.

"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if you girls knew where the brownies went. I was looking for them and don't seem to know where they went. Do you know where they went?" Piper asked, noting that Patience and Penelope exchanged a worried glance.

Mel shrugged. "I don't know. Did you ask the boys? They are always finding them." Mel replied, wiping her sweaty palms on her jeans.

"Okay. I will. Just remember that those brownies were for the new couple across the street. I won't have time to make more before tomorrow night for dinner." Piper replied. "Keep an eye out for them for me, please. Thanks." She turned and went back downstairs. Melinda shut the door and began to freak out.

"Oh, no! What are we going to do?" Mel asked, worried. "Those brownies were for the neighbors when we went to meet them for dinner. We can't give them a half eaten pan."

"I don't know. We could always bake more and replace them?" Penelope pointed out.

"Yeah. We could. I know where the recipe. We just need to have time to bake them without mom being here!" Melinda replied. "I think mom works until 5 tomorrow. That would give us from about 3:30 to 4:45 to bake them and let them cool."

"It would be cutting it close, but it's all we got. Maybe one of us could ditch their last class to get them started?" Patience asked.

"Not me! I have a test during 8th period. Besides, that might get us in more trouble. I just don't think it's a good idea." Penelope replied. Mel nodded.

"True. If any of our parents find out, we will be dead. I think we should just meet here and cut it close. If they aren't completely cool, who cares?" Mel replied.

"Okay. Let's hope this works!" Patience replied as she heard her mother call for her. Penelope and Patience beamed downstairs. "Mom, could we have a giant sleepover. Like, all nine of us. Please?"

Phoebe shrugged. "I don't see why not as long as you get some sleep. Remember, all of you have school tomorrow." Patience was filled with happiness as she shouted out.

"Epic sleepover in the attic! Who's ready?" Patience shouted.

Chris looked at his younger cousin. "A sleepover? Don't you think we're a little old for that?"

"What about a Teens Night In?" Patience asked.

"Isn't that the same thing?" Wyatt questioned.

"Well, yeah. What if we make it a training party as well?" Penelope asked.

"Okay. I'm in then!" Chris replied.

"That's all we had to say to sway you? If I would have known that, I would have told you that in the first place!" Patience replied.

"Wy, Maybe this could be fun. Besides, they will need the supervision. Especially with Rose. They might all end up in jail!" Kate replied, knowing perfectly well what Rose could get them into. Wyatt nodded.

"Okay, I'm in too." Wyatt replied. HJ popped up behind him.

"Same here." HJ answered

Rose nodded for herself and Peyton. "Us too."

Patience nodded. "Okay. Meet me in the attic in 5 minutes. I'll go get Patty!" She orbed away.


	6. Teens Night In

Chapter Six: Teens Night In

Ten minutes later, the room was in chaos as people chatted excitedly between each other.

"Okay, Silence!" Patience shouted and everyone quieted down. "Okay, what do you guys want to do first?"

"We could split up and work from there. Pat and I and anyone else who wants to can meet us in the basement to work on their martial arts. Everyone else could work on your powers. Otherwise we could summon and destroy demons?" Melinda asked.

"I say we do what Prue told us to and destroy the demons before they attack us. We could make it a game." Rose replied.

"That sounds like fun." Penelope replied. "Let's make it a contest. We could split into groups."

"Are you crazy? No! We are NOT making a game out of fighting demons!" Chris exclaimed.

"Why not? It could be fun." Melinda replied. "It would keep the threats down and let us practice."

"No, You could be killed" Wyatt explained. "I will not allow it!"

"Fine, then what is your idea?" Patience asked.

"I don't know. We could read the book to become familiar with it!" Chris proposed.

"Typical Chris." Mel muttered to herself before whining to her older brother. That's boring. I want some actual action!"

"There will be plenty of that soon!" Wyatt pointed out.

"Guys, who seriously wants to spend our free time fighting demons and arguing about it?" Patty asked. Chris was about to raise his hand, but Patty shot him down. "I don't mean you, Chris! I knew _you'd _want to, but seriously guys. Let's just hang out and relax. Talk, have some fun, whatever."

Melinda nodded, slightly disappointed. "Fine. What do you guys want to do then?"

"I don't know. It's getting late though. Maybe we should go to sleep?" Peyton asked, checking her watch yet again. It was 10:42, three minutes from when she had checked it last.

"Well, this is boring. We could sneak out to a party or play Truth or Dare." Rose proposed, with a huge smirk.

"Uh oh. That's not a good facial expression. Especially coming from Rose." Patty noted, cautious.

Peyton sighed and rolled over in her sleeping bag. She grabbed her book and opened up to the bookmarked page. Rose rolled her eyes in disgust at her twin. 'I don't know how we are related!' Rose said telepathically. Peyton ignored her and read her book. The girl was soon engulfed in the words.

"Well, if we aren't going to do anything, then Mel and I are going to go practice our martial arts downstairs. Anyone else want to join us?" Patience asked, helping Mel up. Melinda crossed her arms across her chest. Everyone looked up, but no one said anything, so they both beamed out.

Wyatt turned to his wife. "Are you okay on the floor? Do you want to go home?" he asked, sympathetically.

"Could we?" Kate asked, placing a hand on her stomach out of instinct.

"Yeah. Sure. Wait, who's going to watch the kids?" Wyatt asked, looking around. Patty smiled and nodded.

Rose looked up when Wyatt had said the word 'kids'. "Hey! We aren't kids!"

"Well, you're younger than me, so therefore, you're a kid." Wyatt explained.

Henry Jr laughed. "Wy, I knew you weren't the smartest one, but that didn't make any sense at all." He pointed out.

Patty laughed as well. "He makes a good point."

"Whatever. Either way you need to be supervised and since I'm not going to be here, that leaves it to someone else." Wyatt explained.

"Why? Again, we aren't kids!" Rose asked.

Wyatt sighed. "Because you've been to jail and I'd really rather not have that happen again."

"That was one time!" Rose defended herself. "And I've straightened out! Really!" She insisted.

"Just don't argue with me tonight. I have to take Kate home." Wyatt said.

"Well, what about Chris? He could watch us." Henry Jr proposed.

Wyatt looked over at his younger brother and chuckled lightly. "I think he's a bit busy." He pointed at Chris who was cuddled up next to his new fiancée. Chris heard his name and looked over, but Wyatt dismissed him.

"Don't worry, Wy. I'll watch them. Just go." Patty replied, pulling out her laptop to work on the next day's column.

_'Thank you.'_ Wyatt mouthed as he orbed his wife and himself out.

Chris looked at his brother leave and shrugged. His fiancée and he were sitting on the old couch in the attic. He orbed the book to himself to read through it. The young man was about to open up the book when he saw his fiancée's facial expression. She looked disappointed.

"What's the matter?" Chris asked, placing his hand over Nikki's.

"Chris, don't make this work. We are supposed to be having a good time. Please, Chris. Don't." Nikki said, looking up into Chris's eyes. Chris nodded.

"Okay, hun. I promise. What do you want to do?" Chris asked, smiling.

"Well..." Nikki stopped as she leaned in and kissed Chris's lip. Chris smiled more as he kissed back with a fiery passion. He slid a hand under her hair and held her head. Nikki kissed back, firm and solid as she grasped his shirt for more. He began to suck lightly on her lip, gentle at first, but getting rougher. Nikki smiled, closing the space between them. Chris pulled back slightly to get in a breath, before trailing small kisses down her neck. Nikki pulled back. She whispered into his ear to remind him of his younger cousins. Chris nodded, respecting her.

"Okay." He whispered back. Nikki leaned into Chris's shoulder. He kissed her head, interweaving his fingers with hers. He felt the engagement ring and smiled, knowing that she was his forever. Chris loved her so much. The ring was a small one, but neither cared. He remembered the day he had slid it on her finger and proposed.

_Nikki beamed with shock as she stared at the small diamond on her finger. He wasn't sure how she felt about it at first. All she showed was surprise. He suddenly was afraid she would reject him. He looked down and was about to explain, when Nikki lifted his head up. The girl smiled down at him. "Of course."_

_His face had lit up. "Really? You sure the ring is enough? I wanted to get you a more expensive one. I really did. I just couldn't afford it. I will get you a new one later. I promise." He had rambled on and on. _

_Nikki shook her head. "No, it's perfect. I love it. Why would you replace it? I couldn't care less which ring you would have bought. I love you anyways. This moment couldn't be any more perfect." Nikki had explained to him. He smiled._

A loud noise from downstairs, knocked Chris out of his thought. Chris jumped up to see what was going on. He orbed downstairs to see a demon holding a knife to his mother's throat.


	7. The Attack

Chapter Seven: The Attack

"Mom!" Chris screamed. He tried to step forward to help.

The demon hissed, holding the knife tighter to Piper's throat. Piper cringed, feeling the blade dig into her throat. "Don't move. I can kill her faster than you could even think about it." Chris froze, looking at his mother in pain. It really hurt him, but he had to come up with a way to keep the others out of danger. If he couldn't they all might die. Chris cleared his mind and focused. He thought about the danger and the want for no one came downstairs. He had to get a message to them and getting Rose to pick it up was the only way. He hoped she was able to get his message from upstairs.

"Chris, leave me. Save yourself." Piper told her son.

"Shut up!" The demon hissed, holding the knife to Piper's throat even harder. Piper felt the blood roll down her neck. She began to get dizzy. Chris cried out again, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"I can't do it. I won't leave you here." He cried, helpless.

"Make this difficult, why don't you? Fine. Your mom will die and you get to watch." The demon hissed as two larger demons shimmered in and grabbed Chris. Chris fought against them as the demon shoved the knife into Piper's stomach. Piper felt the knife and gasped.

Chris cried as he tried to orb away. For some reason he couldn't. Something was over powering him. Patty beamed downstairs and tapped into a demon's powers to throw an energy ball at the demon holding Piper. He shimmered out with Piper. The other demons shimmered out as well.

Chris fell to the ground and cried. As he lay on the ground, he screamed in tears. "No! I could have saved her. I could have been here sooner. Why? Why her?" He screamed. Everyone that was upstairs came downstairs. Mel and Patience came upstairs as well. Nikki walked over to her fiancé and comforted him.

"No, you couldn't. This isn't your fault. You didn't cause it." Nikki replied, in a soft and calm voice.

"Yes it is!" Chris cried. "I killed her." He blamed himself for everything. The guilt ate at him. Leo orbed in and saw his son on the floor with everyone else standing around him. Everyone had a saddened and terrified expression on their face..

"What happened?" Leo asked, afraid. He saw the blood on the floor and thought the worst.

Melinda stepped forward, in tears. She obviously knew what was going on. She called for Wyatt, who orbed in. Wyatt looked around, seeing Chris in terror and Melinda crying. Mel ran up to her big brother and hugged him tightly, crying.

"What's wrong?" Wyatt asked, trying to comfort his little sister.

Patty cleared her throat and held back the tears that bit at her eyes. "Piper's dead. A demon took her with him too."

Wyatt was stunned, looking between his siblings. "What?" He asked, tears forming in his blue eyes.

"She's dead." Chris said, looking up at his brother. "I saw it. I could have prevented it, but I didn't. I let her die." He cried.

Nikki wiped her eyes and shook her head. "Don't say that! You couldn't have done anything."

Patty nodded. "Chris, I saw the demons hold you back. How could you have stopped it?"

Chris began to speak. "But…"

"No buts. You are the kindest and most caring person I've ever met. You couldn't have done anything and you have to believe that. Believe that right now!" Nikki said, firmly. Chris nodded, with hesitation. Nikki shook her head. "No, you have to say it. You have to believe it!"

Chris took a deep breath. "I-I do. I do." He nodded.

"Okay... Now everyone, relax. Piper could still be alive. We just have to find her. Come on. We have lost enough time already." Nikki said, taking charge.

Wyatt, Chris and Mel were all grief-stricken and they had every right to be, but she had to get them motivated. They demons could be back to kill all of them next! Wyatt rubbed his temples. He was clearly stressed out for obvious reasons. Chris hugged his fiancée for help. He couldn't deal with the grief and guilt as well as he had thought. Mel continued to cry.

Patience hugged her cousin, Mel and let her cry on her shoulder. "It's okay. Just let it out. I'm here for you, always. I promise." Mel sobbed as Penelope went to grab a box of tissues. Penelope handed a bunch to Mel and set the box on a nearby table.

Leo called for all the other adults and filled them in. They cried a bit, comforting each other. Eventually they turned to Patty.

"Take a couple people upstairs. Get them started on IDing the demon, scrying and working on vanquish." Phoebe said simply. She was trying to stay strong for her family. She couldn't believe she had just lost another sister.

Patty slipped upstairs with Rose, Peyton, HJ, and Penelope soon following. They let the others downstairs be alone as they went to search the book. At least Patty had seen the demons. It might be kind of hard to get Chris to ID the demon that just killed his mother.

Patty grabbed the book to look for the demon as Peyton started scrying. HJ began to pace back and forth. Penelope decided to try a couple spells.

She grabbed a dead rose, crunching and sprinkling the pieces over a sheet of paper. "I beseech all powers above to free my cousin's heart, one that will lead them to Piper." Penelope thought for a moment before trying another spell. "In this night and in this hour, I call upon the ancient power. Bring back my aunt. Bring back the power of three." Nothing happened, as Pen began to cry.

Peyton set down the crystal and walked over to Penelope. "Please don't cry. Pen, we need your help. Come on." The crystal picked itself off the map and fell back down in a new spot. Penelope and Peyton went to look at where it fell.

"The beach? Why would he take her there?" Penelope asked.

"I've been there. It's a secluded beach. You have to follow a dirt trail to get there. Maybe that's why." Peyton shrugged. "I don't care why he took her there. We just have to find her."

"Found the demon" Patty said as everyone went to crowd around her.

"The main one was a warlock named Jeremy. It says that he was Piper's fiancé before they vanquished him. He just needs the power of three to vanquish him." Patty said, simply. "Well, that's easy. I think we should all go. Just in case."

"We're in!" A voice said from the doorway.

Patty turned around to see Wyatt and Chris with Mel, Nikki and Patience backing them up. "Are you sure? You don't have to come."

"I want to destroy that bastard. He killed our mother. We won't just sit back and let him get away with that." Wyatt stood strong. "Let's go." He said firmly. Mel took her brother's hands and all three orbed out. Patience, Patty, and Penelope beamed out behind them. HJ, Rose, Peyton and Nikki followed.

They all arrived onto the beach. It was deserted like Peyton had predicted. They split up to look for the demons and Piper. No one could find them.

Jeremy walked out onto the beach from a half hidden cave. He dragged Piper out. "Looking for us?" He asked.

The kids turned around. Chris looked at his mother. She was barely hanging on. He took a step forward to help his mother. Jeremy smirked, pulling out an athame. "Don't touch her!" Chris screamed.

"Why? You don't have anything to bargain with... Except..." Jeremy trailed off to leave suspense.

"What do you want?" Mel screamed. "We would do anything to get our mother back."

Jeremy smiled with that creepy, demonic smile. "Well, there is one thing…"

Mel looked confused. "What? Please, I'll do anything. Just don't let my mother die!" Melinda cried, tears falling down her cheeks.

(Come on, guys. Please review. I want to know what you guys think, even if you aren't signed in. I can upload 2-3 chapters a night because they are already written. I'm not going to though unless you guys review. Until I get 3 reviews, I refuse to upload another chapter. I want some feedback. What do you think?)


	8. A Sacrifice and Worries

(Kelsey,Thank you for being my first reviewer. I know my grammar sucks, but I check it to the best of my ability. I just try to get the story out there with minimal errors. Phoebe has three daughters- Patricia (Patty), Patience (Pat), and Penelope (Penny). I hope that clears it up. I will not have any appearances of the characters with these names from the regular series so it won't be confusing. My focus is mostly on the kids (Especially Piper and Leo's), but in this chapter and later on, I will have them play a larger role. This is only the beginning. You will find out about Piper in this chapter.)

((Hope everyone likes it! Keep reading and reviewing!))

Chapter Eight: A Sacrifice and Worries

"If you come with me to be my prisoner, I'll release her. If you don't, she dies!" Jeremy said with a chuckle. Mel was torn. She looked back at her family and began to cry harder.

Wyatt saw what was about to happen and tried to persuade her otherwise. "Mel, no. Don't. We can find another way to get Mom back. Not this."

"Ha! Good luck with that!" Jeremy said, sarcastically. "Come on. Don't you want to save her? It's the only way…"

Melinda bit her lip. She wasn't sure what to do. She swallowed and looked up at her family. "I'm sorry. Forgive me."

"No, Mel! No!" Wyatt screamed, reaching out to his sister. A strange force field zapped him. Mel took a deep breath. She wiped the tears from her eyes, turning back to the warlock. She nodded.

"Deal." Mel replied. Jeremy threw Piper to the side and lunged forward. He viciously grabbed her arm and yanked her close to him, shimmering out. The force field disappeared and let Wyatt get to his mother. He placed his hands over his mother and a faint blue light surrounded Piper. Piper's wounds were beginning to close, but she was still slipping away. Everyone stepped forward to help out. Piper was soon healed. She gasped as the life flooded back to her and she sat up quickly as if she was coming out of a nightmare.

"Mom!" Chris yelled, pulling his mother into a hug.

"What happened?" Piper asked, frantically.

"Jeremy nearly killed you. He stabbed you with an athame and took you to his lair. We thought you were dead, but we had to come to vanquish him. You would be dead right now if it weren't for Mel." Chris filled his mother in.

"I knew it was Jeremy immediately. That evil bastard. He attacked me from behind when I was cleaning up. I didn't even have time to blow him up! Wait, where is Melinda?" Piper asked, looking around for her daughter. Paige orbed in with all the parents. Prue orbed in as well, with Kate soon following. Kate hugged Wyatt, knowing what had happened. Chris let go of his mother and hugged Nikki. Patty glared at the super witch.

"Why couldn't you help? You must have known this was going to happen?" Patty demanded answers.

"Patty." Phoebe warned.

Prue began. "It's okay, Pheebs. I can handle this. Patty you are correct, The Elders told me. Mel is missing, but I couldn't intervene. They think you guys can free Mel, but Piper wouldn't have survived otherwise. They know we will need Piper."

Rose snorted. "Well, Ms. Super Witch, what do you think we should do to get her back then?"

"Rose! Stop it!" Paige scolded. "Prue, do you have any advice?"

"Unfortunately I don't, but the Elders think you can do this. They won't let me directly help though. I wish you all good luck. I'll help however I can." Prue replied, with a sigh. She heard a jingle and orbed out.

"Figures!" Piper exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "They expect US to do everything! What the hell good are they? I just want my baby girl back. I don't care if it takes forever, we will get her back. She gave her freedom to save me and I won't give up on her. Now, everyone, go home. We will deal with this tomorrow night. Pray that Mel will be okay." Piper instructed, irritated. Everyone orbed/beamed home and got ready for bed.

Piper tossed and turned in the bed. Her eyes shot open, gasping as she sat up. Leo flipped on the light. He groaned from beside her as he rolled onto his side to look at his wife.

"What's wrong, Piper?" Leo asked his wife. Piper spent a moment to catch her breath before she turned to look at the love of her life.

"It was just a dream. Don't worry about it." Piper said, biting her lip, ever so slightly.

"Yea, obviously a pretty terrifying one too. It is clearly more than 'just' a dream. What's wrong, hun? Talk to me." Leo said, sympathetically.

"It was about Melinda. What if something happens to her? I can't help but feel guilty. She sacrificed herself for me to live." Piper replied, worried.

"Honey, you can't blame yourself for that. You raised her right. She would rather become prisoner to a demon than let him kill you. Isn't that a good thing? It means you taught her right choices and good morals. She knows how to protect herself." Leo pointed out.

"Still, I think this is all my fault. She shouldn't have been in that position! I should have protected her from them." Piper explained.

"What would you have done? Told her not to come after you? She wouldn't have listened to you because that is just how she is. You can't protect them from everything, Piper. They have to face the real world and includes some demons. Fighting demons is just who she is." Leo told her.

Piper nodded, slightly. "Will she be okay?"

"I don't know. She is smart enough to protect herself. She knows martial arts. That will help her. Plus with her powers, she should be fine. I'm sure there will be plenty of demons around her to "borrow" power from. I honestly don't know, but we have to get some sleep. We aren't any help, tired." Leo explained. "Are you better now?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Leo." Piper smiled.

Leo leaned in to kiss the top of her head. He then rolled back over, shutting off the lamp and sliding back to a sleeping position. "Good night." He murmured and went back to sleep. Piper smiled, closing her eyes as well.

Piper woke up to the sun rising in the sky. She rolled over to see what time it was. It was 6:47. She got up, careful not to wake her lovely husband. The woman went downstairs and walked into the kitchen. She flipped on the light and was startled to see someone else there. The other person turned around and smiled.

"Hi, Piper. I'm sorry I startled you. I figured I'm still welcome here." Prue replied, sipping a mug of coffee. Prue handed her younger sister a mug of coffee, still warm.

"Of course you're always welcome, but how did you know I'd be getting up now?" Piper asked, taking the mug.

Prue chuckled. "Piper, I grew up with you. How would I not know when you got up each morning? Hey, I'm really sorry about Mel. I wish I could help."

"I know, Prue. I'm just glad you are here. I really missed you. Why did you never come back?" Piper asked. Prue set her mug down and wrapped an arm around her younger sister.

"You didn't need me anymore. You had become a true leader. You filled my spot. You moved on." Prue explained. Piper felt a bit of guilt.

"You mean I could have called you whenever I wanted, and I didn't? Oh, Prue! I'm so sorry." Piper rambled.

Prue shook her head. "Shh. No. Don't be sorry. This was your destiny. I'm just happy I could come back to be a part of it. You shouldn't be sorry. You moved on and you should have. There was no guarantee that I would ever come back. You did what you had to do to get through it. Don't dwell on the past." Prue told her sister.

Piper smiled. "Do you think Mel is okay?"

"Of course. She is your daughter. She knows how to make it. Plus she has her powers." Prue comforted. "Don't worry. We will find and save her. Until then, you can't worry too much. It will only stress you out."

Piper nodded. An odd question came to her mind. "Prue, did you watch over us?"

"Huh?" Prue asked.

"Did you keep an eye on us? Help us out when we needed it like Grams and Mom did?" Piper asked, rephrasing the question.

"Yea, Pipe. I always did. I often flipped the pages of the Book to help you guys out when you needed it. Why?" Prue asked.

"Just curious. I didn't know if you would have been allowed. Did you hear my calls?" Piper asked.

"I would have broken the rules to hear you. I just couldn't come help you or even just come to you. The Elders blocked my white lighters powers from intervening and so you couldn't find me. There were so many times I wanted to help. I felt your pain and frustration. I wanted to meet my nieces and nephews when they were born, but I couldn't. I couldn't, Piper." Prue broke down, crying a bit. Piper set her coffee mug down and hugged her older sister.

"It's okay. I know you cared. You would have come if you could. I really do believe that." Piper told her. Prue nodded, hugging her sister and still crying. Piper held her tighter, crying as well. They would both get through all of this.

Prue let go, pulling away slowly and wiped her eyes. Piper smiled, doing the same. "So sis, do you just want to hang out today?" Prue asked.

"What 'bout Mel?" Piper asked, concerned.

"We all need the time to recharge. Besides, he won't kill her. If he wanted to, he would have already." Prue replied.

"Gee, thanks. That makes me feel so much better!" Piper said sarcastically.

"Well, I'm sorry, but it's true." Prue replied.

"I know. We need to work on vanquishing Jeremy though because what the kids told me, leads me to believe that he has gained a few powers since we vanquished him." Piper explained, afraid.

"Yeah. I don't think he could create force fields, much less use them last time we saw him! I don't think he could avoid the strength of our powers either. Chris said that he couldn't orb. He seemed to know all of our moves before we even thought about them as well." Prue nodded as she said this.

"I know. He has definitely had a power advance since we last faced him." Piper replied. "Anyway, I have to go get up..." Piper stopped. "I guess I don't have to get her ready for school since she isn't exactly here. I still have to call her in sick. We better save her soon, because I don't know how many days I can tell the school she has the flu." Piper pulled out her cell phone.

"I know. I have to be going anyways. Call me if you need anything, okay?" Prue said.

Piper nodded. "I'll talk to you later then." Piper said as Prue orbed out. She still wasn't used to Prue orbing. It was odd to her. Piper shook the thought out of her mind and dialed the school's number. It rang four times before a lady answered.

"Hello?" The woman asked.

"Hello. I am calling for Prudence Melinda Wyatt-Halliwell. She will not be in school today due to having the flu." Piper stated, almost robotic.

"Okay, thank you." The woman said as Piper hung up. Piper sighed.

"Everything okay?" Someone asked from the doorway. Piper jumped.

"Oh, Sorry Leo. I'm just really jumpy today." Piper said, turning around and slipping her cell phone back into her pocket.

"I understand. With everything that has been going on, I'd be jumpy too." Leo replied as he walked up behind his wife and wrapped his arms around her. Piper picked up her coffee mug.

"I'm worried." Piper said, leaning against her husband. She wiped a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"You have every right to be." Leo said, simply holding Piper closer. He kissed the top of her head. "We have to get back to our lives or it will drive us crazy. You and I should go to work and get back to a normal schedule." Leo told her. Piper nodded, pulling away to go get ready for work.

Leo's words lingered in her head. Somehow she knew life wasn't going to go back to usual.


	9. A Normal Day

Chapter Nine: A Normal Day...

Piper sighed as she leaned against the counter of a bar in her club. She had just got off the phone with band for that night. They would be there in an hour to set up. She was slightly bored as her two employees bustled happily about as if nothing was happening, which they should have been, but it made her sad to see them so happy when she was so depressed. They could obviously feel and see how down she was, but were slightly afraid to ask.

Finally one of Piper's younger employees, Jacob walked up to her. Piper knew the employee pretty well since he had moved into her neighborhood a couple months back. Piper saw him all the time and noticed that he had been looking for a job. She jumped at hiring him.

The 24 year old spoke up. "Piper, is something wrong? You aren't your usual cheerful self." He asked, teasing slightly.

Piper noticed the tease and smiled. She nodded. "Yeah. My daughter was, uh... kidnapped last night." She said, biting her lower lip.

"Oh no! Did you contact the police!" He asked, shocked.

Piper had to lie a bit here, considering she couldn't just go to the police and tell them a demon had taken her daughter. Even Daryl wouldn't be able to help. "Yes. We have, but we haven't heard anything back yet."

"That's terrible. I couldn't imagine having to go through that, Piper! I hope she is okay." Jacob exclaimed, sincerely.

Piper smiled, faintly. "Thank you. Now get back to work! I don't pay you to do nothing!" Piper teased in mock assertiveness.

Jacob smirked. "Yes, Ma'me!" He replied giving a mock salute in return. He then turned to go back to what he was doing- helping the other employee move the boxes of stock to the back room. Wyatt and Chris were still in classes today and wouldn't be around to help until later.

"Hey guys! I'm going to go check out the restaurant and see how they are doing." Piper said. She turned to her manager, Dave. "The band will be here in an hour. Help them set up and I won't be back to open the club tonight. My sons should be here to help out in 45 minutes, but otherwise it's just you guys tonight."

Dave and Jacob nodded as they went back to work. Piper grabbed her keys and headed out to her car. She soon arrived at her restaurant, The Elemental. The woman grabbed all of her stuff, trying to carry all of it. She walked about half way to the door before she dropped her keys. They fell to the concrete with a thud.

Piper became frustrated at this simple thing. It was what pushed her over the edge for the day.

"Ugh! Damn it!" She said out loud, irritated. She yelled at the sky. "You knew about this and you could have prevented it! I am a great mother and I do NOT deserve this! Why? Why?" She yelled, breaking into tears again. She fell to her knees and cried into her hands.

Wyatt orbed in from out of nowhere. He looked around, worried. "Mom? Are you okay? What happened?" He asked.

Piper looked up and it only made her cry more. Wyatt helped his mother up from the hard ground. He held her in his arms, repeating himself. Piper couldn't respond. She just cried as Wyatt hugged her in the middle of the parking lot. Piper sniffled and made a couple weird noises as she tried to stop crying.

"It's okay, mom. I know." Wyatt said, calming her. Piper pulled away a couple moments later to wipe her tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. She looked up at her tall son.

"Wy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to break down like that." Piper apologized.

"No, mom. Don't apologize. Mel was captured by a demon. You should be sad and upset. I was last night. Still am. Sometimes you just need a good cry." Wyatt said to his mother.

Piper looked up with a sad smile. "Wy, I didn't know you were such a good advice giver. You are really intuitive." She was kind of surprised.

"I'm not. I just know you. Now come on, you can't hide out here in the parking lot forever." Wyatt said. "And I have to get back to school. I'll see you tonight."

Piper nodded as Wyatt orbed away. She bit her lip and picked up the stuff from the ground. Piper took a deep breath and walked into the restaurant she had opened years ago. It still looked brand new to her. She looked around at the happy customers and smiled. Piper headed back into the kitchen to see how things were going.

At the same time, Leo was back at Magic School, teaching a class on teleportation to high school kids. He happened to have Penelope and Henry Jr in his class. The mixed grade classes were not unusual to the students or even the school for that matter.

Leo pointed to the board and it began to write down what Leo was saying. "There are many different types of teleportation. For the most part, one species will generally all have the same form of teleportation, but this rule is beginning to form more and more exceptions due to different magical species having children together. Most types are categorized by which species they generally belong to, which isn't always as black and white as it seems." Leo turned toward the board as he continued to talk and wrote a list of species with teleporting powers. "Now keep in mind what I just said, but on this board we will generalize the powers. For example, white lighters usually orb. What teleporting power do normal demons generally have." Leo pointed to a younger girl towards the left side of the room.

The girl spoke up, firm, but still gentle. "Demons most commonly have the power to shimmer. Upper level demons sometimes have the ability to flame instead of shimmer."

"Very good, Crystie. Would someone like to demonstrate flaming?" Leo asked his students. A larger guy towards the back stood up and flamed to the door and back to his seat. "Thank you, Chester. Now as you may or may not have already realized that Chester is clearly not evil. If he were evil, he wouldn't be able to enter the school. I will repeat myself again as well; everything is not as black and white as it used to be. Anyone like to demonstrate a common cupid's form of teleporting and explain what it's called?"

Patience sighed, clearly bored with the class. She beamed out and back in. "And that would be called beaming." She said, simply. The kids were a bit too excited as the bell finally rang. Patience immediately beamed out and into the Halliwell Manor, Penelope soon following.

"Okay, let's go. We have to make those brownies before Piper gets home with or without Mel's help. She is under enough stress already. We don't want to stress her out more. Now, let's get to it. So what do we need?" Patience asked, looking for Piper's brownie recipe.

"Well, we need flour for sure." Penelope said, grabbing the flour out of the cabinet above the fridge. "What else do we need?" Penelope asked

"I have seen her use sugar, butter and obviously chocolate. Um... What else? How about vanilla extract. She uses that too, doesn't she? And um, there is one more... Oh! Salt. Now we just have to figure out how much." Patience said, biting her lip. She was beginning to regret eating the brownies as she pulled out more of the ingredients.

"Why don't we just go get a box of brownie mix and make it that way. Sure, it won't taste like Piper's, but with all the stuff she has been going through, I don't think she will be able to tell the difference. Plus, isn't that usually faster?" Penelope asked.

"Sure, how much cash do you have on you? We will split the cost." Patience asked.

"Uh..." Penelope dug through her pockets. "5 bucks. What about you?"

"A ten." Patience replied. "Oh, well. Let's just go. We only have a limited amount of time." Patience said, taking her sister's hand. They beamed into the alley behind the grocery store, walking around to the front door. The walked inside, trying to act as normal as possible. The soon found the brownie aisle and looked for the right kind.

"Quaker? Betty Crocker? Duncan Hines? What do we get?" Penelope asked.

Patience picked up a store variety. "These are really cheap. I say we buy these."

Penelope was skeptical. "I don't know. Why don't we get a name brand to be on the safe side?" She asked.

"Because these are cheaper, and brownies are brownies!" Patience explained. "We don't have much time, either. Let's just get out of here. Okay?"

Penelope sighed, giving in due to lack of time. "Fine." She said, taking the box. The girls walked up the closest register, and luckily, they didn't have to wait too long in line. They check out and headed out to the alley where they had beamed in. Patience took her younger sister's hand and beamed out. The girls walked into the kitchen.

"Woah! It's 4:23 already! Come on. We have to hurry." Patience exclaimed, opening the box. "What does it say? What do we need?"

"Well, what size pan is that?" Penelope asked, pointing to the pan with the old brownies. She stuffed a couple in her mouth as she did this. Patience didn't yell at her though, instead she stuffed a couple in her mouth as well.

"It's a 13 by 9, I think." Patience said. "So we preheat the oven to 350 degrees." Patience went over to the oven and preheated it. Penelope took out a bowl and dumped the mix into it.

"So, we need..." Penelope skimmed the ingredients list. "A half cup of vegetable oil and a fourth cup of water." She said, accidentally missing the eggs. The young girl went to grab the measuring cups as Patience grabbed the vegetable oil out. The older sister measured out a half cup of the oil, pouring it into the bowl. Penelope went over to the sink to measure out a fourth cup of water. She walked slowly over to the bowl too pour it in.

"Perfect." Patience said grabbing a spoon to stir up the mix. It only took a couple minutes to mix it up, but both were on edge the entire time. They had to get the brownies in the oven. Quickly. They shoved the brownies into the oven.

Twenty minutes later, a bell went off and Patience sprung at the oven, flinging it open. The girl accidentally grabbed the pan, burning herself.

"Ow!" She screamed, pulling her hand back. She shook it to cool it off. It had only been a split second burn, but it hurt like hell. She began to cry as she waved air at her hand. Penelope freaked out a bit as she saw the burn mark on her older sister's hand. The girl was scared, unsure what to do. She beamed upstairs to the bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit. Penelope beamed back downstairs then.

"Here." She said, ripping into a package of burn cream. She smoothed it out on Patience's hand and Patience slowly began to calm, feeling the cooling sensation of the burn. She assessed the burn, thankful that it hadn't been worst. The young adult was more relaxed, as she took a couple deep breaths. Penelope grabbed a pot holder and picked up the brownies, pulling them out of the oven. She set them onto of the oven to let them cool. The brownies looked different than their aunt Piper's which they figured it would be, but Patience just shrugged.

"Are you okay?" Someone asked from the door way. Both girls jumped, turning to see their cousins, Wyatt and Chris studying them.

"I-I'm fine." Patience winced as she said this. She hid her hand behind her back.

"You don't look fine." Chris pointed out, stepping forward. He noted the wetness in her eyes and the first aid kit on the counter along with the oven open and a fresh batch of brownies on the counter. "What did you guys do?"

"Well, we uh, decided to make brownies for Piper since she uh, is so stressed out about Mel." Penelope explained, nodding her head nervously. Wyatt nodded.

"Sure. That's why there are packets of burn cream and a first aid kit on the counter. That makes perfect sense. It looks you guys were in a hurry. Now tell us the truth." Wyatt said as he leaned against the counter.

Patience licked her lips before starting. "Last night, we found the brownies in the cupboard and decided to eat them. Piper came upstairs to ask us if we had seen them and we hid them right in time. Mel did a great job of redirecting the attention on us to on you..."

"Wait, us! Why us! And what do you mean 'redirected the attention from you to us'?" Wyatt asked.

"We meant that we told Piper that you guys stole them." Penelope bit her lip. "She went to question you guys and we went back to thinking up this plan."

"She never went to question us. Right, Wy?" Chris asked.

"He is actually right. She never even said anything to us. Wyatt said, confused.

"Maybe she knew the whole time." Chris pointed out.

Patience stared at Chris like he was crazy. "Why didn't she bust us right there, then! And how would... Never mind. I already know. She saw us when we beamed out. Probably heard us too."

Chris shrugged. "Maybe she wanted to teach you guys a lesson or something. She knew you would have to come up with a way to fix it or come clean."

"Crap! This sucks. Well, let's let her think it's working. Want to help us clean up?" Patience asked.

"Nope." Wyatt said, turning to leave.

"What? Why not? You can't just come in here and lecture us and then not help us! That's not FAIR!" Patience whined. Both of the boys ignored her and kept walking. Chris stopped at the door and only turned around to say one thing.

"Yes we can. Life's not fair so deal with it. And this isn't our lesson to learn. It's yours. Besides, we have had enough life lessons. Bye." Chris chirped, before turning back around and leaving with his brother.

Patience stomped her foot. "You can't do this. If I go down, I'm dragging you with me." She muttered, putting some dishes into the dishwasher. Penelope widened an eye at her sister's fit. Wasn't she supposed to be the adult one? She rolled her eyes and went to help her older sister clean up. Penelope grabbed a handful of ingredients and went to put them away. She then went to put the first aid kit away.

It took them ten minutes to clean up, just in time as Piper walked through the front door. Patience heard the door open and pushed Penelope towards the brownies to get her to put them away as she dried the counter. They grabbed hands and beamed out as Piper walked into the kitchen. Piper smirked, looking at the running dishwasher.

"They found a way to fix it. Now, we just have to wait for dinner." Piper said to her herself as she went to grab the brownies. The pan was still pretty warm, but not hot enough to burn her.


	10. Back to Work

Chapter Ten: Back to Work

A couple hours later, everyone, except for Henry and Coop who were still at work, were back at the manor. Piper tapped nervously on the table top.

"No, I refuse to let you guys go after her yourself. At least not without proper preparation." Piper said, firmly.

"If we spend the time to prepare, he will know what will be coming." Wyatt told his mother.

"No, how would he know? I'm not saying to have to have a full plan with potions and spells, but something would be perfect. Come on. Being prepared never hurt anyone." Phoebe pointed out.

"No, I think he already knows about us and our plan. We have to go. Attack or he might come after us all next. I promise we will be careful. We just have to go." Patience told her aunt and mother.

Prue orbed in. "I have really bad news." She blurted out, immediately. "Jeremy is coming. He knows everything that you are doing and what you will do. He has a new gift. One where he can attach a leach to your brain and steal information from your brain. It's actually pretty easy for him to do. He can do it from no matter how far away you are."

"There is no way that is possible. He isn't that powerful. I know he isn't!" Piper insisted, in denial.

"Piper, maybe he is. He was vanquished for over twenty-five years. He probably found a way out with the powers he had collected from the Wasteland. Remember what had happened to Cole." Phoebe asked.

"She's right. It isn't that impossible. He probably met Cole and they shared tips. Cole needed Phoebe's help, but maybe Jeremy didn't. Maybe he found his own way out." Paige said.

"You mean to tell me that Jeremy escaped the Wasteland without our help." Piper asked, clearly skeptical.

"Well, I don't see why not. He probably picked up a ton of powers there. It made him really strong. Plus, we know demons would be coming back so maybe he didn't escape. Maybe he just waited for this day when he was freed. Who knows? Anyway, it doesn't matter how he escaped or got his powers. All I care is that he does and we need to stop him before he hurts anyone else." Phoebe explained to her family.

"Well, how do we do this without a plan? He will kill us all if we just go straight on." Patty asked, biting her lip in thought.

"We could block that power from him. Like our parents blocked Phoebe's empath power when she first got it." Patience proposed the idea.

"I don't know. We would have to get close enough to get him to drink it and even then he would already know our next move." HJ pointed out.

"Well we could hide it in something." Peyton said.

"We could, but doesn't that leave us in the same problem because he would know what it is?" Patty asked her younger cousin.

"Wait. I have an idea." Penelope said. Everyone turned to look at the youngest cousin, desperate for a plan, or lack thereof.

"Shoot." Chris said, hoping for a good idea.

"Okay," Penelope started. "What if we used the potion and created a spell so all of us will drink it instead of him?"

Chris was shocked. It was an amazing idea and she was wondering how his youngest cousin had come up with the idea, but not him. He was supposed to be the brains of the operation and was getting jealous. He was supposed to be the one to save his family. He had done it once. Well, not really him. An alternate version of him. One that had died, trying to save his family. But still, the version was still very much a part of him. It always would be.

Chris excused himself for a minute to walk over to his fiancé who had come in. He was exhausted from lack of sleep and trying to find his younger sister. The one he shouldn't have lost in the first place. Nikki noticed this immediately and instructed Chris to sit down. Chris did, not having the energy to fight with her. Nikki sat down on the couch right next to him. He rested his head on her shoulder. Nikki nodded and pulled him close. She understood what he was going through. She patted his back, calmly trying to let his tense body to relax a bit.

His family continued to build off the idea as Chris's eyes got heavy. He leaned more against her as he slipped into a sleep, something that hadn't happened for a couple days. The young man rested as Nikki moved him so he laid on the couch. She went to stand over by her in-laws to take Chris's place for a while. They kept talking, not even noticing her.

"Okay, that makes sense. Let's get started. I want Mel back." Patience said, clapping her hands together. Everyone beamed or orbed away to help with the new plan. This left the parents, Nikki and a sleeping Chris. Even Kate had orbed out to help.

The young woman looked towards Chris and smiled. Piper nodded. "He definitely needed the sleep whether he showed it or not." Piper told her to be daughter in-law. "I would have never known behind the permanent mask he has on. He has so much pain, ever since he found out about the other Chris and his adventure. It really isn't his fault, but you do a great job with him. I don't know how he would have made it without you."

Nikki blushed a little, flattered. "Thank you, but he has you too. I'm not the only one taking care of him."

Piper shook her head. "Not like this. He doesn't know how lucky he is to have you. I could never have done this. You have a real gift for knowing him. One that no one else possesses. Keep up the wonderful work you have done. I'm delighted to have you as a daughter in law."

Nikki smiled, looking towards the love of her life sleeping on the couch. "Thank you, Piper. Now, I'm going to go kick some ass so he can stay this way." Piper and her sisters smiled at Nikki's enthusiasm. It reminded them of themselves when they were her age. Nikki smirked, trying t figure out where everyone went. Some were in the kitchen and some upstairs. She chose to go upstairs as Chris would have.

When Nikki got upstairs, Wyatt, Kate, Henry Jr and Penelope were crowded around the book. This meant everyone else was in the kitchen. Nikki went over and looked at the page. It was the empathy blocking potion with all the failed spells they had tried. She grabbed a pen and paper to copy down the potion.

"Let's see. I'm sure we are going to need a spell with this." Henry Jr pointed out. Just then, he got a call from a charge. "I got to go. Can you take care of it?"

"Sure. Go ahead, I'll get started on the spell." Wyatt said. "Kate, want to help me?" Henry Jr nodded and orbed out.

"How? I'm not a witch." Kate asked, walking over to her husband as he plopped himself down on an old couch that had been up in the attic for as long as anyone could remember.

"Just because you can't say the spell and get it to work, doesn't mean you can't help me with the wording." Wyatt pointed out as they both looked at the piece of paper and worked on the spell.

They began to talk through it for a while, before Nikki handed the potion recipe over to Penelope, who beamed downstairs with the recipe, figuring the spell might take a while. She handed the instructions over to Patty as Rose, Peyton and Patience crowded around her to look at the recipe.

"This looks decent." Patty said, handing it to Piper who was here to help since they all were terrible at making potions. Piper glanced at the recipe, figuring out how the new recipe would work. She bit her lip, figuring it out.

Piper took over and began the potion. "I am going to give you all a potion making class someday because none of you are very good at this." Piper said as she requested a couple ingredients.

"You say that every time, Aunt Piper." Patience stated. "And besides we aren't all terrible. Mel is excellent at this and Chris isn't half bad."

Piper smirked. "So. We should have more than 3 people in this house, including me, who know how to make potions." Piper stated, mixing the potion at high heat.

"We all know how, we just aren't any good at it." Patty replied.

"You sound like your mother. Anyways, that's my point, I want to make it so all or almost all of you are really good at making potions, because I can't help you guys forever." Piper told everyone as she stepped back to let the potion bubble. They all watched as the potion bubbled. No one had ever made this particular potion before and they were curious what it would do.

Patty picked up the potion ingredients list. "Now it says all we need is this egg thing." Patty showed the list to the rest of the room.

Piper studied the list and sighed. "We should really have Chris working on this. He was the one who had requested this be made in the first place, the first time it was made."

Peyton looked at her aunt. "Chris? But I thought you guys made this potion before he was even born?" Peyton asked, racking her brain to see if she had gotten something wrong.

"You are correct. He wasn't born yet. He came back from the future. At the same age he is now. He changed the future for the better and saved Wyatt and myself and all of us. An alternate Chris grew up in a time where Wyatt was the source of all evil and most of us were dead. He had a fiancé, Bianca who died trying to send him back to us to change the future. He did." Piper's voice cracked as tears rolled down her cheeks. She fought to get one more sentence out there. "On the day that the Chris you all know was born, the other Chris died, fighting to save Wyatt." Piper cried and Patty hugged her to help her. Everyone else began to tear up.

Peyton turned a pale white. "Does he know? Does Chris know?" She asked. "And does Wyatt know?"

Piper nodded, crying. "T-they both-th know." She took a deep breath. "Chris since his birthday and Wyatt for a month already. They both know." Piper broke into tears again.

Patty helped her to a chair. Piper sat down and cried her eyes out. Leo must have heard because he orbed in and hugged his beautiful wife. "What happened?" Leo questioned everyone, letting her cry on his shoulder.

Piper took a deep breath and her crying ceased. "Nothing. Nothing. They know about Chris. The other Chris."

Leo held his wife tighter as tears welled up in his eyes for the first time in a while. "They know everything?" He asked, hinting at the part about his death.

Piper nodded, tears reforming in her eyes. Leo nodded and pushed away the tears that burned at his eyes. He let go of his wife and let her sit down. Piper took a couple deep breaths to calm down.

"Well, now that you guys know the truth, we have to get this potion finished." Piper stated, a bit robotic, holding back the tears once again. "For Mel. I will not lose another child."

"You won't. We will find and save Mel. I promise." Leo told his wife.

"For Mel!" Patty exclaimed. Everyone chimed in. "For Mel!" They went back to work as Piper went to wake up her son.

"Chris? Chris, honey wake up. Come on Chris." Piper told her son, gently shaking him awake. He was really tired and it was going to take a lot more to wake him up. "Chris! Wake up! We need your help. It's for Mel. Come on. Wake up, hun."

Chris turned over, opening his eyes. "Hi, mom. What happened?" He asked, yawning.

"Nothing. You just fell asleep. We need your help to save Mel." Piper stated.

"My help. Why my help?" Chris asked, siting up. He yawned once more. "Why couldn't anyone else help?"

"Because you were there last time we made the potion and we need to know how to find the egg." Piper stated, a bit nervous as to what Chris would say to this.

"What do you mean? I wasn't even born yet." Chris pointed out, looking at his mother like she had just lost her mind.

"No. You are right. You weren't, but the other Chris was. He was the one who went to the potion maker person to get the potion. The other Chris was your age at the time. Since you have access to the memories, we figured you could help." Piper said, looking her son in the eye.

"How? I have no real access to those memories. They are just flashes of craziness. I don't even know what most of it means yet. Besides, I can't always control it." Chris replied, discouraged.

"You have to. It's the only way to help your sister. Come on. We can't do this without you. You just have to learn how, just like your aunt Phoebe had to learn how to control her premonitions." Piper replied.

"Is there even enough time? I mean, he could attack and kill us all any minute." Chris questioned his powers at the moment. After all, he was the one who had gotten his sister in the situation in the first place.

"What do we have to lose? If we don't try, he's just going to kill her and come after us all next. Chris, you are Mel's only option. We will all die otherwise. You have to try." Piper insisted.

Chris nodded. "The pressure's on me." He smiled, trying to lighten the mood a bit. Chris took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He focused on the other Chris. His other life and personality. He tried to block out himself and only focus on the Chris who had saved his family. The one who had died for all of them. He could do this. His body relaxed and he went into almost a trance-like state.

A picture popped into his mind. He was in a dark cave. It was vaguely familiar. Just then he realized that this wasn't him. It was the other Chris and he was back 20+ years ago. Chris couldn't move. He wasn't in control. It was as if he was only here just to watch. His other self walked up to an old man and asked for the potion. The man told him it will take six weeks or even more. He became impatient and demanded the potion. The old man gave him a little speech. Chris told him off and demanded the potion again. The man told him of a place and the name of the egg.

Chris is yanked from the memory. "Okay, that was really weird."

"What happened?" Piper asked, looking over at her son.

Chris thought for a moment on how to describe it. "Well, it was like I was in the other Chris's body, but I had no control. I was only there to watch."

"Did you find anything out?" Piper asked, hopeful.

"Yes. The egg is called a Kotochul egg and they can be found at Swamp Land." Chris replied, smirking.

"Swamp Land?" Piper asked, cracking up. "Is that even a real place?"

"I know. I thought the same thing, but apparently there is. I'm sure I can find it." Chris said, determined. Piper nodded.

"Be careful, oh and by the sounds of it, it's a muddy place, so wear old clothes." Piper told her son. Chris smiled, nodded, orbing home to change and then to Swamp Land.

Patty had turned the heat off on the stove and came into the living room with the others. Kate, Nikki and Wyatt had come downstairs.

"Where is Henry?" Paige asked.

"He was called away by a charge. Don't worry. It's probably nothing." Wyatt explained. Paige nodded, unconvinced.

"Where did Chris go?" Nikki asked, noticing he wasn't on the couch.

"He went to go get the last ingredient for the potion." Piper stated.

"Wait, how did he know where to find it?" Patience asked.

"He had a little memory flashback. From the other Chris." Piper explained. Wyatt looked concerned.

"H-he can con-ntrol them now?" Wyatt asked weakly, not wanting to know any more about the evil Wyatt. Kate wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close to comfort them. He looked down at her and smiled faintly.

"Yes. Not for very long, but he can." Piper told her eldest son. Nikki smiled. "Wyatt, he didn't see anything bad. Just about him and this old man that was supposed to make a potion for him. Everything is okay." Wyatt was instantly relieved.

"Well, how long do you think it will take?" Rose asked.

"I don't know. Chris said the man had told him it was rare, but if we know Chris, he will find one." Piper replied, thinking back to the day when the other Chris had requested the potion. He had broken into her date with a guy and his shirt was covered in mud. Chris was so protective, but manipulative. Things with Leo were not so great at the time.

"Piper? Piper!" Phoebe shouted. Piper snapped out of her thoughts. "Piper, did you even hear me?" Piper shook her head.

"No, Sorry Pheebs. What did you say?" Piper asked. Phoebe sighed.

"I asked you if you knew where he went." Phoebe explained to her sister.

"Yeah. He went to Swamp Land." Piper said, giving a small chuckle.

Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious? That's a real place?"

Piper nodded. "Yes it is. I asked the same question to Chris."

HJ orbed back in. "Hey, guys."

"Hi, Henry. What happened?" Paige asked her son.

"Nothing, she's just a typical witch who was lost and confused. She called to me help her understand some stuff better. No biggie." Henry Jr. told his mother. "So what's going on around here?"

"Nothing much. Chris had a vision of the other Chris and went to go get the last ingredient." Piper explained.

"Wait, the other Chris? Which other Chris?" Henry asked, confused. Piper sighed and gave a quick explanation of the other Chris. Henry nodded as she spoke. "Is he okay?"

"I don't know. We sent him out a bit ago, but the egg is rare." Piper stated, simply.

"Well, I'll go check on him, then." Wyatt volunteered.

"Just be careful and don't get too dirty." Piper told her son as Wyatt nodded and orbed out.

Fifteen minutes later, Wyatt and Chris orbed back, both covered completely in mud. They laughed as they appeared into the room.

Piper stopped them in their tracks. "Don't dare walk into this room until both of you change and take a shower." She told both of her sons.

Wyatt sighed. "Fine. We will be back soon. Here's the egg." He handed his mother a rather large egg as they both orbed out. Piper walked into the kitchen to clean off the egg. She handed it to Patty and a group of kids went to work on the rest of the potion. Piper grabbed a cleaning tool out of the closet and went to clean up the floor where her sons' muddy footprints were.

Phoebe supervised Patty, Patience, Peyton and Penelope in the kitchen. Rose had plopped herself on a couch and didn't intend on moving any time soon. She closed her eyes. Paige sighed at her rebellious daughter and went to help Piper with the mud. It was thick and goopy and was beginning to dry to the floor. It was some strange material that neither of them had come across before and they weren't sure how exactly to clean it up.

"What the heck is that?" Paige asked, grossed out.

"It feels like a wet clay dirt mix, but it looks like a gelatin goop type thing that dries really fast." Piper replied. "Now come on. It's drying."

"Yuck!" Paige exclaimed as she scraped it off and threw it away. This awoke Rose who simply smirked at her mother.

"Sis, you can handle demon guts, flesh and blood but you are grossed out by this?" Piper asked, teasing.

"Ew. Yuck!" Paige squealed as Piper picked up a chuck and dangled it in her face. She had to peel it off the floor. "Piper! Don't do that! Please!" she flailed her hands, resulting in one of them whacking the substance right out of Piper's hands. It landed with a plop on the floor. Piper rolled her eyes as she threw it away and rubbed at the floor to get the remaining chunk off the floor.

"Better?" Piper asked as she grabbed out the garbage bag and tied it up to go throw it away.

"Much." Paige answered her sister's question as Piper returned.

Peyton walked into the living room, holding something in her hand. She held out her hand, uncurling her fingers to reveal a red potion. "Finished! Let's go get Mel!" She said with a smiled, handing it to her aunt Piper.

Wyatt and Chris orbed back in, with damp hair and new clothes on. "Ready?" They asked. Wyatt pushed something deeper into his pocket.

Piper showed them the potion. "Yep." They walked into the kitchen. Rose got up and followed the rest of her family. Patty handed a potion to each person.

"Cheers?" Patience asked, uncorking her potion and holding it into the center. They others nodded, doing the same.

"Cheers!" They exclaimed, downing the potion in a solid gulp. Kate unrolled a piece of paper and handed it to her husband. Everyone set down the potion vial and locked hands, including Kate.

Wyatt cleared his throat before saying, loud and clear as he read off of the piece of paper. "I call upon the ancient power, to hide us from his secret power. The power to read minds. We wish to be set free to save our sister." Wyatt let go as with everyone else.

"Let's go save her." Chris said as they all orbed or beamed out. They reappeared in an old, dark cavern that looked abandoned.

"Did we orb to the wrong place?" Penelope asked, looking around at the dark and wet cave.

"No, I don't think we all could have orbed to the wrong spot. Where is he?" Peyton replied, turning towards her younger cousin.

A dark figure walked out of the shadows and pushed the hood down. It fell over his shoulders and revealed his face. It was Jeremy. Just the way he had looked oh so many years ago, but this time he looked more evil, sinister and dangerous. "Hello, children. I see you have brought your mothers as well. Oh, the Charmed Ones. I hear that elemental demon, what was his name? Oh yeah, Shax killed the eldest one, was it Prue? It doesn't matter. That was years ago and she always was the bitchy one. Anyways, you must be the half-sister. The lovely Paige. I'm delighted to finally meet you after all these years." He said stepping forward.

"Go to hell." Paige exclaimed, fiddling with the potion bottle in her hand.

Jeremy held a hand to his heart in mock hurt. "Aw, that really hurt. You may have vanquished me before, but you won't now. I know you still love me, Piper."

Piper raised an eyebrow at her ex. "Are you kidding me? I couldn't care less if you burn in hell for all of eternity! In fact, I would love to be the one to send you there!" She exclaimed.

Jeremy smirked as her anger grew. He was clearly testing her. "Anyways, I'm assuming you aren't here to exchange pleasantries, so what are you here for?"

"We are here to vanquish your sorry ass and to get back Mel." Piper said, taking an assertive stance.

"Oh, Piper, Piper, Piper." Jeremy said, shaking his head. "You really don't get the big picture do you? Take your stupid troubles somewhere else. Mel isn't here."

"What the hell do you mean by 'She isn't here'? She is to here! We saw you take her." Piper screamed at her ex.

"I mean she isn't here. Things move fast in the demonic world, if you couldn't tell, and she is somewhere else. I couldn't tell you where." Jeremy replied, bored.

"You will be telling us or... Else!" Phoebe exclaimed, tightening her grip on the potion bottle.

"Or else what?" He mocked. "Going to vanquish me? I don't think so." Piper was furious as she whipped up her hands to blow him to a billion bits and pieces. Jeremy wasn't even bothered by the power. "Wow. Seems like I'm the only one who got stronger here." He smirked.

"Don't talk to her like that!" Wyatt yelled, stepping up.

"Why? You think you little tiny weakling can destroy me?" Jeremy asked, with a chuckle, scanning his challenger.

"You think I'm weak. I'm the Twice-Blessed child. You are the one who doesn't stand a chance." Wyatt firmly pointed out. He sent a huge wave of energy mixed with his rage towards the powerful warlock. The Warlock tried to blink out, but before he could, Wyatt grabbed a potion out of his pocket and threw it at Jeremy. Jeremy was stuck as he was hit with the energy. It looked as though his body had just been rattled with bullets as he disintegrated before their very eyes. "That, was too easy." Wyatt had pointed out, turning to his mother.

Piper walked up to where his ashes were and stomped on them. She rubbed her shoe in them. "Think I love you now, Bastard?" She stomped one more time for emphasis, before turning away and briskly walking back to her family.

Wyatt looked around. "Do you really think he doesn't have her?"

"I don't know." Piper replied. "He has lied multiple times in the past, but I honestly don't know. Look around." She ordered and everyone fanned out. With everyone, it only took them a couple minutes to search the entire room, fully.

They all came back, nervous and sad with empty hands. "She isn't here. Jeremy was telling the truth. How do we find her?" Patience asked.

"We could scry and try a couple spells, but that's it." Patty told the group. Everyone sighed as they beamed and orbed home.

(This was a longer chapter… Anyways, keep reviewing! )


	11. Mel's Life So Far

Chapter Eleven: Mel's Life So Far...

Mel sighed as she sprawled out on the bed in the concrete room he had taken her to. It was a decent sized room with dark furniture, which she kind of expected from being in the Underworld. She had noticed that the room had a full bathroom and a closet full of dark clothes, all in her size. The clothes had been conjured for her and she was kind of starting to like them due to her knowing that her mother would never allow her to wear something like them.

She had gotten her powers stripped, but didn't really seem to care. Mel got off her new black bed with red detailing and walked over to the book shelf which was covered with books of all sorts of demonic topics such as Blood Magic, The Complete Book of Demonic Spells, and The Demon Dictionary. She took out a book titled Types of Demons and took it back to her bed.

Mel had the sudden urge to change out of her normal clothes and decided to take a shower. She picked out a black leather jacket, thick belt and mini skirt. She grabbed out a low cut tee with a red skull on it as well with pair of blood red high heels. She went to take a shower and change. Mel tied her hair up in a high pony and used a red headband to keep the strands of hair out of her eyes.

Mel slid back in under the covers and curled up with the book and began to read, soon engulfed in the book. She turned the pages quickly and soon reached chapter three. She jumped slightly when a demon shimmered into the room. Mel accidentally dropped the book and it slammed shut as it hit the floor. "Ugh, you scared me!" she exclaimed, picking up the book from the floor.

"I see that, Miss Halliwell. Our masters are ready for you as well as dinner. They are delighted to meet you, now just come with me." The right hand woman explained, politely. She had strict orders to be kind, friendly and helpful. She held out a hand and after a bit of thought and hesitation, Mel took it. They shimmered out.

Both of them reappeared in a large dining room that was clearly only set for special occasions. It was beautifully decorated and the table was set with five places. She noticed the table. It was a large table (enough for 12 or 14 place settings) made of gray granite. The table was covered with a black table cloth. The chairs were hand crafted as she could tell from the fact that none of them were exactly the same. They had odd patterns. One in particular stuck out at her. It had swirly designs and curled tops. She took a seat at this place.

Soon, four demons faded into the other four spots. She didn't know who each of the demons was, but she had seen them in the Book of Shadows. Mel couldn't place a name to them, though.

The first, who seemed like the leader, spoke. "Hello Melinda. Great to meet you." He said simply.

Melinda didn't really seem to care that these were demons. She smiled. "Thanks. And who are you exactly?"

"I'm Zankou." Zankou stated, not mentioning the fact that he was War, the first horseman of the apocalypse.

"And I'm Barbas." Barbas said, following Zankou's lead.

"Cole."

"And I'm Tempus."

Melinda smiled. "Nice to meet you. Wait, Cole? As in "The Cole"! My Aunt's ex-husband, Cole. The one who destroyed her life? Wait, Zankou? Barbas! Tempus! You're all dead!" She exclaimed. "The Charmed Ones killed all of you years ago. Before I was even born." Melinda stood up and backed away, confused and scared. She took off sprinting into the darkness of the Underworld.

Zankou sighed and turned to Cole. "She's your problem, lover-boy. Go get her."

Cole summoned a fire ball and aimed it at Zankou. "I said, 'Don't Call Me That!' He yelled, throwing it at his leader. Zankou simply ducked and faded out and back in behind Cole.

Zankou threw an energy ball at Cole's back. Cole fell to the floor. Zankou picked him up and threw him at the wall. Cole groaned as he lay on the ground. Zankou looked up. "Anyone else want to test me?" No one said anything. He turned to Barbas. "Go find her and drag her back here, whether she is kicking and screaming or not. DO NOT lay a Finger on her or you are dead!" Barbas nodded, irritated as he faded out.

Mel ran fast and hard, before bumping into someone who had faded in front of her. She looked up. It was Barbas. She knew what the demon could do and was scared as hell. The girl slowly backed up-straight into a wall. Mel looked nervously about as Barbas came closer.

"I'm not here to hurt you. None of us are. Now, calm down. We just wanted to have a rational discussion over dinner. Is that so wrong?" Barbas asked. "You witches spend your whole life thinking that all we are capable of is killing and corrupting. You think we can't do something that isn't evil, but we can."

Mel was confused. Her head hurt as thoughts raced through it. "You are evil! All you want to do is kill me or you have some evil plot to turn me against my family. You hate me. Why are you being nice to me?" She asked, in disgust.

"No. We don't want to do anything. Just protect you." Barbas said, taking a half of a step forward. Mel was on edge.

"Protect me? Protect!" Mel laughed. "Ha. Only if that's the code word for kill! If you really wanted to protect me, then you would let me go home to my family and not trap me here. And demons don't protect in the first place. They destroy."

"That's the thing. You can't go home. Everyone in your family will be destroyed by this battle without us having any control. We need someone who we can send back in time to stop it. That's why we have Tempus. This battle will destroy not only good, but evil as well. The whole world. The Underworld, The Elders. All destroyed." Barbas explained.

Mel was still very confused. She knew he was trying to twist her morals, but was starting to actually believe him. "Why didn't the Elders know or try to stop it yet?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

"They believe this battle is for "The Greater Good" even if it destroys everything. They are so messed up mentally that they can't even think straight! They are so stuck on self-sacrifice that they don't see the bigger picture." Barbas told her. "Now come on. Zankou and the others can explain more fully." He held out a hand. Melinda was confused, but kind of wanted to know the truth so she took his hand. They faded back to the dining room.

"It's about time!" Zankou exclaimed when they beamed back in. He was kind of surprised at how open and willing the young woman was, though. He had expected it to take a lot longer than it had for him to convince her. She was confused, curious and scared all at the same time.

"So I first want to know how all of you aren't dead." Mel asked, taking a seat once more.

Zankou cleared his throat and began. "Well, the source summoned me of course. She wanted me to help her reorganize the Underworld so she remained in power. I was loyal to her for setting me free." Mel could tell that he was lying and was angry, but decided not to mention anything.

"Wait, She? Her? The Source is a woman?" Mel asked.

"Yes," Tempus said. "The first in history actually. She was once... uh..." Tempus looked towards Zankou for permission to continue. Zankou thought for a moment and sighed. She would find out eventually.

Zankou nodded, breaking in. "She was my wife at some point."

"'Was?' As in past tense? What happened?" Melinda asked the leader.

"She... Uh...She... She caught me cheating on her and she divorced me immediately. Then she helped the current Source at the time imprison me. After that Source died at the hands of the Charmed Ones, she took power of the Underworld, but in the power struggle, I was somehow set free. History goes on and I'm vanquished by your family. She stayed in power, figuring out how to bring me back. After all these years, she finally did." Zankou explained to the young woman.

Melinda nodded, turning to Barbas. "And what about you? How are you not dead?"

Barbas nodded. "Same way as Zankou, I suppose. The Source and Zankou worked to free me so this plan would work. So we could get you here."

Mel nodded. "And you?" She asked, turning to Cole. "I assume my Aunt would like to know how you are back. You remember Phoebe, don't you?" She asked, harshly.

"Don't talk to me like that." Cole hissed. "She ruined ME! She made me vulnerable and weak, but not anymore. She doesn't control me now."

"Sorry. Didn't mean to make you angry." Melinda tested with a fake innocent smile. "Anyway how are you alive?" She asked.

"Pretty much the same as the others, I guess. I don't really remember much of it. It's all kind of a blur." Cole explained, confused.

Mel nodded, knowing something was up. She turned to Tempus. "And you?"

"I never died." Tempus explained.

"You didn't? But, I was told..." Mel was cut off.

"No, I didn't die, but it did take me two and a half decades to recover. I had to lay low and just recover. Everyone thought I was dead. A while back, I resurfaced to the Source and she sent me on this path." Tempus explained.

Melinda nodded, just as the food arrived. She picked up her fork and took a small bite, discovering that she liked it. She stabbed another piece of meat with her fork and lifted it to her mouth. She could smell the light spices and sauces that mixed with the chicken. It was light and buttery and danced in her mouth as she chewed the food. Mel swallowed and cleared her throat.

"This is really good. What is it?" Mel asked, lifting her glass to take a sip of water.

"A secret recipe. Would you like anything besides water, Miss?" The waiter asked. Mel could tell he was a dark lighter just by the way he acted. Everyone was odd. They were all so kind and forgiving; nothing like any of the demons she had met or read about.

"Um, No, thank you." Mel said, politely. They were being very nice to her, so she decided to return the favor.

The waiter nodded, "Very well. Have a good evening." The dark lighter said and dark orbed out.

Melinda turned to the four horsemen. She noticed one of them scratched his neck and revealed a strange tattoo. She frowned, but immediately snapped her head back down to the food when he looked up at her.

The meal lasted only for twenty minutes. The talk was mostly small talk or the room stayed pretty much silent. There weren't any important conversations. When she was done, Mel looked up.

"Uh, can I go back to my... uh room? I'm kind of tired." Melinda asked.

Zankou nodded. "Very well." He looked between his fellow demons. Cole nodded.

"I'll take her." He said, standing up. Zankou nodded. Cole walked over to the young woman, taking her hand. Both of them faded out and back in to Mel's new bedroom.

Mel let go of Cole's hand and walked over to her bed. She sat down, but Cole didn't leave. "Uh, Cole? You can go now." She pointed out, trying not to make the conversation awkward.

Cole nodded. "I know. Anyways, I will be back at eight to take you on a tour, but you are welcome to take a walk or look around. I'll leave the door unlocked. If you get lost, call for any of us and we will appear." Melinda nodded at the instructions as Cole faded out. Cole faded back in on the other side of the door and unlocked it before fading away.

Mel waited a few minutes to make sure he was really gone, before walking over to the bookshelf and picking up a book on demonic symbols. She took it back to her bed and flipped through it. Mel soon found the symbol and found out it was an Omega. She began to read out loud.

"The Omega, Ω, is a demonic symbol most often seen on the neck of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." Mel frowned. "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Wait, I saw this on Barbas's neck. He's a horseman? That doesn't make sense." She thought out loud as she went to grab another book on higher level demons. She looked through the book and found a section titled 'The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'.

She began to read out loud to herself again, "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are a species of demons that are designed to bring about the Apocalypse. They wear a tattoo on their neck of the Omega to distinguish them from other demons. They each have their own role and title. War is most often the leader. His role is to create war between countries. Next is Death. He is in charge of creating and spreading diseases and illnesses throughout the world. The third is Strife, who creates conflict in humanity. The last is Famine. Famine is in charge of creating starvation and malnutrition in the world." Mel read. She set the book down and stood up.

"Oh, my god. Zankou, Barbas, Cole and Tempus are The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. They are the ones creating the apocalypse. I have to get out of here!" She exclaimed, grabbing a couple things and opening the door. She looked around to see if anyone was there. No one was. She then took off sprinting into the darkness.

Cole faded back into the room and noticed no one was there. He saw the bathroom door was wide open and empty. He noticed the books on her bed and saw the pages and what they were opened up to. "Damn it!" He yelled and faded back to his group. "She got away!" Cole yelled, frustrated as he paced back and forth.

Zankou was just as frustrated. "How did you let her get away?" He growled.

"It wasn't me! You told me I should let her explore a little bit. It's not like she can really leave the Underworld and she can't get that far!" Cole exclaimed, pacing the whole length of the room.

"Yeah, but they can still sense her if she isn't in that room!" Zankou exclaimed.

"Then why did you tell me to do that then!" Cole yelled.

"Shut up! Both of you!" Tempus exclaimed. "Like Cole said, she can't get far. Especially because she can't teleport. Now you idiots should go find her instead of bickering over whose fault it is!"

Zankou growled. "Don't talk to me like that, old man!"

Tempus cut him off. "Watch it. I could go back in time and change history so you were never born." Tempus threatened.

Zankou groaned, but his face became lighter and less angry. "Let's go." He ordered. No one questioned this as they all began to fade away. Cole stayed back to sense for Mel first. He quickly found her and faded to her.

Cole grabbed Mel's arm and pulled her towards him. She spun around to see Cole and looked frightened. "I know everything." He said firmly, holding her arm solid. Melinda fought to get away.

"No! I know everything! Now, get away from me!" She yelled, stomping on the top of his foot. Cole took a moment to get the pain to fade away. This gave Mel enough time to run. Cole sighed and used his absorption power to send her back to her room. Cole faded in outside the door and locked the door, before fading into the room.

Cole thought a message for Barbas to pick up using his telepathic power. He hoped Barbas would get the message that he had found her and pass it on. Obviously it worked, because 3 other demons faded in a matter of two minutes. They all glared at Melinda.

Mel stuttered. "I-I uh... I was just going for a... um... walk." She explained. "Yeah a walk. Just like you said I could, Cole.

Zankou looked down at books on the bed. This caused Mel to look down as well. She noticed that The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse page was open and at full view to them. She scrambled to shut the books and hide them under the blankets.

"What do you know?" Barbas demanded.

"Enough." Mel tried, hoping they would spill the details that she didn't already know.

"Nice try, Mel, but that's not going to work." Cole said and asked again. "What do you know?"

Melinda sighed. "Well, I know that you four are The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse."

Zankou didn't deny this. "How do you figure?" He asked, curious.

"By the symbol on your neck. I looked it up and it's an Omega. The Omega is most commonly found on the neck of a horseman so I looked them up and it wasn't that hard to put two and two together." Melinda explained, simply taking out the books and placing them back on the shelf in the same way they had been before. "By the way, why did you guys give me a book shelf with books about demons on them? I could use them against you."

"You're a smart girl." Zankou trended carefully. "We figured you would want something to read and by giving you demonic books, in the long run, we are just educating you about us. You would find out eventually anyways, so why not teach you demonic subjects?"

Melinda nodded. It kind of made sense. At least she knew they hadn't put the books there to be stupid. It was some kind of plan. She didn't particularly like the idea of them plotting against her, but the demonic books were actually pretty interesting. She wouldn't be allowed to read some of the books on these shelves if she were at home. Mel was starting to like The Underworld and her new life...

(Please review! I won't upload another chapter until I get a couple more reviews. Please, I just want to know who likes it!)


	12. Back to NormalMaybe

(The Original Bitch: I have other plans for Cole…)

Chapter Twelve: Back to Normal... Maybe...

It had been almost a week since Mel had gone missing and everyone was depressed. Her friends had been over because they think she is in the hospital. Piper, Leo, Wyatt and Chris had to try to keep their secret and they made up excuse after excuse for why they couldn't see Mel. One of these was that the disease is contagious. Their house was filled with cards and flowers.

The kids hated having to lie all the time, but they knew they had to. The kids were nervous and scared, always looking over their shoulder now that the battle was getting closer. They had already fought two demons and had vanquished them. The demons were coming back at full speed now and Prue was constantly there to help.

Wyatt, Chris, Kate, and Nikki were sitting around Mel's bedroom, talking.

"So did you find anything new?" Kate asked, but Wyatt silently shook his head.

"No. Nothing. She dropped off our radar. The last time I even had a bit of a read on her was days ago. Do you think she's...?" Wyatt asked, trailing off.

"No. She can't be. We would feel it for sure. Besides, they would have killed her already if they were going to kill her." Chris explained. "The question is what do they want with her?"

"Well, they probably want to somehow use her against us in The Battle to End all Battles." Wyatt told his brother.

"Yeah. Probably. I'm just worried about her. She is probably scared out of her mind." Chris said as he stood up.

"You guys need to get out of the house. I know you miss your little sister, but you are going to drive yourselves to insanity." Nikki said.

Kate nodded. "You guys need to do something to clear your mind. How about we meet at the club tonight? Double Date?" She asked, hopeful.

"Sounds more like terrible date. Two depressed guys and two pregnant women. I don't know." Wyatt said.

"Come on, Wy. It can't be that bad. Would you rather sit around here and mope all night or go take your mind off of Mel?" Kate asked.

Wyatt thought about it for a minute. "Fine. Why not? See you at six?" He asked. Kate nodded, cheering excitedly. Kate smiled. "Well, I have to go do some homework. See ya later." Kate orbed out with this.

"I have to go do homework too. Chris, can you take me home?" Nikki asked. Chris nodded and picked up his fiancée. They orbed back to their apartment.

"Will you be okay here alone? I have a few things to take care of." Chris asked, setting his fiancée down on the couch.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. When will you be back?" Nikki asked.

"I don't know. In a couple hours. Maybe six? Why?" Chris asked.

"Oh, Nothing. Just curious. See you later. Bye." Nikki said.

"Bye." Chris replied and orbed away. Nikki took her bag and sat down on her bed. She began to work out an outline for an essay for a Physiology class.

Patty sat down on the couch with her laptop. She worked out the next week's advice column as she listened to her IPod. One ear bud fell out of her ears and she shoved it back in. Patience came downstairs and sat down in the arm chair. She leaned in and peered over at her sister's laptop and read over her shoulder.

Patience spoke up after a few minutes. "Patty, are you scared about Melinda?"

"Of course I am, Pat!" Patricia explained, looking up at her younger sister. "Why do you ask?"

"You just don't act like it. I'm really scared for her. Who knows what demon is holding her captive? They are obviously very powerful if they can block her from us. They don't want her to be found for whatever reason." Patience explained. Light tears flowed from the corner of her eye and they slowly got stronger and stronger. Patty set her laptop down and pulled her sister close to her.

Patty let her sister cry on her shoulder as she sobbed. Patty knew how hard this had been for Patience as she had always been the closest to Mel. They were the closest in age as well. Patience began to lessen her crying after a bit. Patty continued to hold her close even after she had stopped.

"Are you okay?" Patty asked, empathetically.

Patience took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes. Thank you. I really needed that. Thank you so much."

"It's no problem." Patty simply told her sister. Patience scooted away from her sister and wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. Patty made a motion to wipe something off her face. "Your mascara is really smudged."

Patience fumbled to whip the black marks under her eyes away. "Is that better?" She asked. Patty shook her head, smirked and got up. She walked into the kitchen and looked through a wicker basket that sat on the granite counter top next to the microwave. Patty picked up a small mirror and took it back to her sister. Patience took the mirror and looked at it.

Patience looked at her eyes in the mirror and began to laugh. "I look ridiculous!" She exclaimed. Patty chuckled.

"Yeah. I know. Here, I'll help you." Patty explained. They both ran up the stairs and went into the bathroom. Patience hopped up on the counter and grabbed a tissue. She wet it and looked in the mirror to try and get it off. Patty smirked and took the tissue. She helped her sister wipe it away. Patience turned back to the mirror and smiled.

"All gone. Thanks, Patty." Patience smiled.

"You're welcome. Now I'm gonna go work on my column. Wanna go get dinner tonight? We can ask Penny to come with us as well. It will be just us." Patty explained.

"I don't know. I was kind of planning on trying to find Mel tonight." Patience said, biting her lip.

"Okay." Patty said sadly. "Um, do you want some help?"

"Sure, I don't really want to be here alone. I don't think Mom would be very happy if she found out that I went demon hunting on my own." Patience explained.

"Okay. Just don't get too disappointed if we don't find her tonight. We have been trying for almost a week. Don't become obsessive. Okay?" Patty explained.

"I know." Patience said, before turning and leaving to go do something else. Patty nodded and went back downstairs, picked up her laptop and continued to work on her column. She couldn't focus anymore though.

Peyton walked out of the library, carrying a stack of books. Her backpack was slung over her shoulder. Rose was next to her, clearly bored.

"Did we seriously just spend two and a half hours in a library? How long could it take to do research anyways?

"I didn't say you had to come with me? You could have stayed home or something." Peyton replied.

"No. That's boring and besides, what would I have done in there?" Rose asked. "Couldn't you have just done this later?"

"No. The essay is due next week. I don't have time to do all of this in a couple days." Peyton replied.

"Well, can we at least go get coffee now? I'm bored." Rose complained to her sister.

"Fine. And you are always bored. Now come one. I know a coffee shop a couple blocks from here." Peyton said as she shifted her books in her hands to check her watch. "It's 5:30. We have to be back by 7 o clock so I can get started." Peyton told her twin sister.

"Okay." Rose said as they began to walk. "So how was your day?"

"Do you really care?" Peyton asked suspiciously.

"No. Not really. I'm just really bored, like I said. Anyways, I heard about this party at Sarah's house on Friday. Interested?" Rose asked, skipping ahead and walking backwards to talk to her sister.

"No." Peyton immediately dismissed the idea. "I have this essay to do and besides, aren't you going to Sam's party?" Peyton replied, determined not to get persuaded by her sly twin.

"Yeah? And? I can't go to two parties in one night?"

Peyton rolled her eyes at her twin. "Mom's not going to let you go anyways, so it doesn't even matter."

"Come on. You are just a wallflower. You haven't been to a party since last November. I want to do something. We won't get caught by mom so we won't get in trouble." Rose persuaded. "It's not that far. We could walk there easily and be back before morning. Please?" She asked.

"I said no. I'm not going with you no matter what. I have to get my sleep anyways!" Peyton exclaimed, shifting the heavy weight of the books to the other arm.

"Wallflower!" Rose exclaimed, irritated with her sister. "You are such a wallflower. It's a wonder you even have any friends. You don't like to do anything fun."

"I have friends! Ones that don't like to always break the rules and get in trouble. I came to college to actually study and get a degree." Peyton said, harshly.

"What are you saying? That I don't do anything important with my time?" Rose yelled, angrily. "I get just as good of grades as you, but at least I can still have fun!"

"No! You lie, cheat and steal your way to A-'s whereas I get them the responsible and fair way." She yelled. Peyton was getting fed up with her twin sister. She walked away from her sister and headed back to their house. Rose huffed and headed towards the coffee shop. She didn't want to deal with her sister at the moment.

Peyton stormed away angrily. She was frustrated that her sister constantly tried to get her to do things that she clearly didn't want to do. It annoyed the heck out of her. Meanwhile, Rose was just as angry because she was irritated at Peyton for always being so serious and not ever having any fun. The farther they got from each other, the more they calmed down. They had realized that they had gotten angry at each other for no real reason. They were both very smart girls who just thought completely different. It wasn't something that should have made them that angrily.

Peyton got back home, dug her key out of her pocket and unlocked the door. She kicked off her shoes and headed upstairs to her room. She set down her books on her bed and looked out the window, sighing. "I really messed up." She sighed again and headed back outside. She turned towards the coffee shop and began to walk in that direction.

At the same time, Rose had reached the coffee shop, but couldn't bring herself to go inside. She looked at the smiling college kids laughing inside and turned around. She took the back way towards her house.

Peyton reached the coffee shop and went inside. She noticed that Rose was not in sight. This worried her. With everything that was going on and Rose's personality, she was scared. She regretted leaving her twin now. Peyton sent a message to her sister, telepathically, but either Rose was too far away or she was ignoring her sister. When Rose didn't reply she got even more worried. Peyton went back to the alley behind the coffee shop and orbed back home.

Rose grabbed a latte and left, just walking around town. The girl heard her sister trying to contact her, but ignored it. She wanted to be able to think. She found an alley and orbed to San Francisco Park. Rose threw away her coffee cup and sat down on a bench to thought for a moment. Rose soon realized she was being stupid and should just go apologize to her sister. She looked around, and seeing no one, orbed home.

Peyton bumped into Rose as she was just about to orb out. She saw her sister and was relieved. Before Rose could say anything, Peyton began. "Oh. Rose. I'm so so sorry. I didn't mean to insult you. I know you try really hard in college and I'm sorry." Peyton blurted out, pulling her sister into a hug.

"I know. I'm sorry I called you a wallflower. I know you want to do well and I'm sorry." Rose replied, hugging her sister back. They stood there, in the middle of the hallway, hugging and nearly in tears.

"I know. I'm just glad you are okay. I went back to the coffee shop and you weren't there. I was so scared." Peyton said, holding back the tears that burned at the back of her eyes.

"I went to San Francisco Park to think. I realized I was just being stupid. I'm so very sorry." Rose rambled on and on. Peyton nodded as she pulled away from her sister.

"Did you hear the message I sent you? Telepathically, I mean." Peyton asked.

Rose nodded. "Yeah, I just ignored you because I was angry. I'm sorry I worried you." Rose replied as she sat down on the mini sofa.

Peyton nodded. "Well, I'm going to go work on my essay. Wanna order a pizza for dinner?"

"Sure," Rose replied. "That'd be nice. I've been craving pizza for a while."

Peyton nodded again and went to her bed, grabbing her books on way. She sprawled out and opened the first book. She grabbed her notebook to take notes. The whole time she felt like she was being watched or something.


	13. A Stalker and An Unfortunate Accident

Chapter Thirteen: A Stalker and An Unfortunate Accident

Peyton and Rose sat at the kitchen counter, a pizza box separating them. They hadn't intended on Henry Jr to show up, but somehow they knew he would show up. He was kind of drawn to food, especially free food. Henry Jr had pulled up a chair and took a slice of pizza. The hot cheese stuck to the roof of his mouth as he took a bite. He almost spit it back out as it burned his mouth.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Do you understand why we weren't digging right into the pizza now?" She asked. "It was obviously burning hot. Do you ever listen?"

Henry Jr swallowed the hot bite of pizza and set the slice back down. He stuck his tongue out. "Who listens to their older sisters? That's not cool. Not cool at all."

"Well maybe you should start. You wouldn't have a burnt mouth then." Peyton replied, walking over to the fridge and grabbing out a half full bottle of Pepsi that she had started that morning. She unscrewed the cover and took a large gulp before taking a seat back with her brother and twin sister.

HJ rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He replied as he grabbed the remote off the TV stand and flipped on the TV to a news channel.

Peyton snatched up the remote. "This is boring. Let's watch a movie." She said, changing the channel to a random movie. It looked like a very romantic movie. "Ooh! Haven't seen this one yet!" She exclaimed, excitedly while Rose snatched up the remote from her twin.

"That's too romantic and sappy. I don't want to watch something so pointless. Let's watch a horror movie. I know the perfect one." Rose replied, changing the channel. A picture of a dark cemetery flashed across the screen. Rose smiled and nodded. "Perfect!"

"This looks creepy! Why do you always choose the scariest thriller you can think of? It's my turn. I prefer not to have monsters jumping out at me while I try to eat." Peyton replied, stealing the remote back.

"Well, I prefer not to watch two people shove their tongues down each other's throats while we eat!" Rose exclaimed, yanking the remote back.

"I prefer to watch neither movie, so you know what? I'm turning it off!" Henry Jr exclaimed, taking the remote and shutting off the TV, before throwing it towards the couch. He missed by a long shot as it thudded to the floor.

"And that is why you are not an athlete. Now go to your room. Shoo!" Rose exclaimed, making a motion for him to leave.

"What? Why!" Henry asked.

"Because you are annoying and uninvited. Now go. This is our room. Leave." Peyton replied, pushing him towards the door. "I have a paper to write and we still have to eat tonight. Now go."

Henry Jr sighed. "Fine. I can take a hint." He replied and orbed out.

Rose smirked. "Glad he is gone. Now he can't steal our pizza. Or what's left of it." She pointed out, staring at the half eaten piece.

Peyton nodded, sitting back down to eat. They argued for a while over which movie to watch and in the end, decided against both. They finished the pizza and threw the box away. Peyton went back to her homework and Rose looked for a good movie to watch. Again, they had to argue over the type of movie to watch, but in the end chose a comedy. They both silenced their phones and set them aside.

Phoebe, her daughters and Coop all sat down at the dinner table. Patience wasn't really hungry. She pushed the food around on her plate. She was nervous for her cousin. Patience had never been away from Mel this long. Even when Mel had gone off to summer camp, Patience had begged her mom to let her go with Mel. Melinda was Patience's Best Friend and she couldn't dare to be apart from her.

Patience had been quiet all evening and Phoebe was curious. "Patience, hun, are you okay?" Phoebe asked. Patience looked up from her plate.

"Yeah. Mom, I'm fine. Could I just be excused?" Patience asked.

Phoebe looked at her husband and nodded. "Yeah." Patience picked up her plate and cleared it off, before placing it in the dishwasher. The rest of the family continued to eat in silence as Patience walked over to the stairs and took them two at a time.

Even Patty had decided to stay for dinner. Phoebe and Coop had left too, quickly cleaning up and going upstairs. Patty looked at her sister. She spoke up. "Pen, I feel like something big is going to go down. Soon. I can feel it's something bad." She told her sister.

Penelope looked over at her older sister. "What do you mean? What bad thing could happen? Do you know who the bad thing will happen to?" She asked, curious.

Patty shook her head. "No. I have no idea. Should we call everyone else? To warn them?" She asked, pulling her cell out of her pocket.

Penelope nodded. "Yeah. Let's hope you are sensing something in the future and not the past!"

Patty dialed Chris's number, but it went straight to voice mail. She then dialed Wyatt's number, but his went straight to voice mail as well. Patty next tried Nikki's, getting worried. Nikki didn't pick up either. "Damn it! Come on, Kate. Pick up." She told herself as she dialed Kate's number. It went to busy. She must have been in the middle of a call.

Patty sighed. She set the phone down for a second. "No one picked up. Should I call the twins and Henry Jr?"

Penelope nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. It could happen to them too."

Patty nodded and dialed Peyton's cell. "Damn! No answer. Why don't people answer their damn cell phones!" She exclaimed, before dialing the other twin's number. Rose wouldn't pick up either.

Penelope sighed. "I have a better idea! HENRY!" She yelled. Henry Jr orbed in.

"What?" He asked, annoyed. "I was with a charge."

"Patty sensed something bad about to go down. You have to go warn your sisters and then Wyatt, Kate, Chris and Nikki!" Penelope instructed. Henry Jr nodded and did as he was told. Neither of his sisters was happy with intrusion, but took the warning. They quickly got him out so they could go back to what they were doing. Henry Jr then orbed to Wyatt, Chris, Nikki and Kate.

Wyatt, Kate, Nikki, and Chris all sat at a round table at P3, the club Wyatt and Chris's mother owned. The girls had been right when they said that the guys needed to get out of the house. They were all having a pretty good time as well. The band was pretty good and none of them had had anything to drink that night. The girls because they were pregnant and the guys because they weren't in the mood to have an alcoholic beverage. They let go of all the worrisome thoughts about their sister.

"You guys were right. This was awesome." Chris exclaimed after a couple hours. It wasn't too loud in the room, but they still had to talk pretty loud to be able to hear each other across the table. Nikki sipped a Coke and smiled.

"Well, maybe you should listen to us more often then." Nikki teased. "Anyways, would you like to dance?"

Chris nodded, standing up and walking around the table. He took his fiancée's hand and helped her up. Chris led her out onto the dance floor and placed his hands on her hips. Nikki reached up to wrap her arms around his neck. It was a relatively slow song as they swayed gently to the music. Neither of them were very good dancers, just good enough to keep from stepping on each other's feet all the time. Chris pulled her close to him. Nikki leaned her head down on his chest. Chris placed his head on top of hers.

They moved slowly enough for each other to catch up. The song was pretty short, but Nikki loved how meaningful the lyrics were. They talked about a young boy who had been kidnapped by his mother. In the end, the child was reunited with his father and they had a great time together, never regretting a moment they had together. The message was to live life to its fullest because you never know when the end will come.

Chis smiled down at her as they danced. The slow rhythm made them feel connected and inseparable. This was until Chris lost focus and accidently stepped on Nikki's foot. He immediately stepped away and broke contact with his fiancée. Nikki looked up and surprisingly, she smiled. Chris was confused as he took her hand again.

"Why are you smiling? I messed up. Didn't that hurt at all?" Chris asked, worried.

"Yeah, of course it did, but that doesn't matter. Remember the song. Live life to its fullest. That means not getting angry or letting things get in the way of your life, no matter what." Nikki replied, stepping in to kiss him on the lips.

Chris smiled. "You know what?"

"What?" She asked, looking him straight in the eyes.

"I love you." Chris told her. Chris kissed her lips, gently.

Nikki smiled as she pulled away from the kiss. "Christopher, you know what?"

Chris looked down at his fiancée and smiled. "What?"

"I love you too." Nikki replied. Chris smiled and led her off the dance floor. They were reunited with Wyatt and Kate.

Kate smiled and leaned in to whisper something to Nikki. "You two looked very nice out there. When are you two getting married again?"

Nikki pulled away. "March 15th. Just five months before my due date." Nikki said out loud. "Why?"

Kate shook her head. "No reason. I was just curious."

"You weren't planning on throwing me a bridal shower or something, were you?" Nikki asked.

"No!" Kate exclaimed, going into defense mode. "You specifically stated that you didn't want a shower!" Kate exclaimed, bringing her glass to her face. She took a long gulp of the root beer and set it back down. Nikki was still looking at her suspiciously. "What?" Kate asked.

"Oh, nothing." Nikki replied innocently enough.

Wyatt and Chris watched the girls' conversation. Wyatt chuckled lightly. They got along pretty well, despite the age difference. Chris smiled at his soon to be wife. Nikki suddenly frowned. She felt like she was about to throw up. Everyone else noticed this as well. Kate stood up and helped Nikki rush to the bathroom.

Nikki barely made it. She threw up as Kate held her hair back. Nikki groaned as she kneeled on the ground. "I'm in my second trimester. Isn't the queasiness and morning sickness supposed to lessen up by now?"

Kate shrugged. "Yeah, but you are only beginning your second trimester! Besides, you didn't start getting morning sickness until later, so therefor, it will probably last longer." Kate smelt the puke and bent down to throw up as well. Nikki held her hair back as well. They both stood up and left the stall. They looked in the mirror and cleaned the sickly gross stuff that hung on their chins.

"This sucks!" Nikki groaned.

Kate nodded. "I agree, but at least we can go through this together. We can go maternity clothes shopping together too."

Nikki threw the paper towel away and nodded. "Well… At least something there is a plus. We should probably go shopping in the next week or two because I can tell I'm starting to show." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a lip gloss. She put it on and tossed to Kate, who applied some as well. She handed it back and they turned to head back out to the club.

They returned to their table. Chris looked at Nikki in concern. "Nikki, are you okay?"

Nikki nodded, groaning. "Yeah. I'm fine. It was just morning sickness." She replied.

Chris questioned this. "Again? Since when does morning sickness become afternoon and evening sickness as well?" He asked, concerned.

"Yeah. I don't know, but it sucks. I feel sick all the time. I just hope it lessens up soon." Nikki replied with a small shrug. Chris looked between the girls. Nikki suddenly bit her lip. "I have to tell you all something."

"Is it about the baby?" Chris asked, concerned.

"Yeah. Well, kinda." She took a deep breath. "I'm going to have twins!"

Chris was shocked for a second, but smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah!" Nikki replied. Kate pulled her into a hug.

"Congrats, girl! Double the love!" Nikki smiled.

"Does anyone know what time it is?" Nikki asked suddenly. She reached for her cell phone before she realized that she had left it at home.

Chris glanced up at the clock. "Almost seven. Why?"

"Nothing. I just wasn't too interested in staying out too late." Nikki replied. "Your kids are wearing me out!"

"My kids?" Chris asked, chuckling.

Nikki stopped talking and rubbed the back of her neck. She looked around, but no one was watching her. As soon as she turned back, she felt the presence again. She leaned into the table and whispered. "Am I going crazy or does anyone else feel like someone is watching them?" Nikki asked.

Chris looked around. "I haven't sensed anything. I'll check for any negative energy if that will make you feel better. Okay?" Nikki nodded as Chris closed his eyes. He focused long and hard before opening his eyes.

"So...? Am I crazy?" Nikki asked

Chris shook his head. "No... Well..." Chris teased. Nikki hit him playfully in the arm.

"I'm serious!" She exclaimed. "Did you sense anything?"

Chris nodded. "It was faint, but it was there." Chris told his fiancée. Nikki felt both relieved and nervous at the same time now. At least she knew she wasn't going crazy, but there was definitely a demon stalking them. Nikki placed a hand on her stomach, protectively.

"What does he want?" Nikki whispered back.

Chris shrugged. "I don't know. It's hard to tell." Wyatt tried to sense some more details on the evil, which was apparently, stalking them.

Wyatt sat there for a moment in total silence. His eyes were shut and his mind was blank, only focusing on the apparent evil that was stalking them. His eyes shot open and he looked around. "The evil is here and they are getting closer!" He warned.

Chris and Nikki looked around nervously. "Well, that doesn't help! There are probably a thousand people in here right now!" Nikki replied.

"Well, you said you wanted to know more so give me a second!" Wyatt replied, closing his eyes again. "She is really close." He replied.

"Wait, so the demon is a girl?" Nikki asked.

Wyatt nodded, his eyes still tightly shut. "Yes. She is closer than you think." Wyatt opened his eyes. "I can't sense anything else about her. She isn't a demon though. She is some sort of demonic high priestess."

Nikki looked around. She caught a glimpse of someone's reflection in a mirror on the wall behind her. She spun around, but the reflection disappeared. "I could have sworn I saw something in that mirror!" Nikki exclaimed, pointing at said mirror.

Chris shrugged. "There is no one over there." Chris replied, pointing out that the mirror was in the staff area.

Nikki shook her head. "Someone or something is over there!" She insisted. "They have been watching us all night. I could feel it!"

Kate studied the mirror and tipped her head to the side. "Maybe you did see something. I know there was something watching us and I was facing away from the mirror the whole night."

"I'm just going to go check it out. It will ease my mind a bit if I know nothing is truly over there." Nikki said.

Chris nodded as Nikki got up. "Okay, hun. Just hurry back, okay?"

Nikki nodded, leaning down to kiss him. "Okay." She got up and slowly walked over to the staff area. She looked around the area and just like Chris had said, there wasn't anything around. She sighed and studied the mirror. It was steamed up slightly. Nikki wiped the mirror clean and swirling lights surrounded her. She looked around, frightened as a thick mist surrounded her. She felt something brush against her body and felt suddenly weak when something pushed her back. Nikki couldn't breathe. She gasped for air as her arm flailed to escape the mist that seemed to engulf her. Something or someone was there with her and her suspicion was soon proven when the something seemed to be inside her. She felt another spirit was trying to push her out of her own body. The force of the possession caused her to fall to the ground, unconscious.

Chris, Wyatt and Kate ran towards Nikki as the swirling mist began to fade away. "No!" Chris screamed as he reached the mist. He fought through it and found nothing. As the mist cleared, he noticed that Nikki was lying on the ground, unconscious. He been down to check if she was breathing and she barely was. He stuck out his hands to heal as his eyes fought back stinging tears of terror. Wyatt bent down to help along with Kate. For some reason, it wasn't working. She was slipping away. Chris cried when her heart rate rapidly began to fall.

People ran around, scared and nervous. They all evacuated the building with the assistant manager who had worked that night. Kate went outside to keep everyone under control. She waited to call her family in law until they know for sure. She got everyone quieted down and they all sat in silence.

Chris turned her onto her back and pushed his brother and sister in law out of the way. He began CPR, giving her compressions to the chest. "Come on. Live!" He demanded.

Kate heard him from outside and could tell Nikki was already dying. She was really scared and the crowd was beginning to act up again, but she managed to quiet them down. Kate fumbled with her cell phone to call 911.

Chris wasn't doing too well inside. He continued chest compressions. After 30, he tilted her chin back and gave her two rescue breathes, before returning to the chest compressions. Kate talked nervously on the phone as Chris continued. Wyatt kept trying to heal. After a couple tries, Wyatt gave up and ran to go get an AED. He handed it Chris. Chris took it and worked on getting her heart to stay alive. It was only working somewhat. She was dying. After a bit, the machine started failing along with Nikki's heart.

The sound of the ambulance got closer. Nikki was dying quickly. Her heart stopped pumping blood. She could hardly breathe and she was almost gone. Everything was failing. They only had to get her to the hospital, but the ambulance wasn't fast enough. Chris picked her up as her pulse faded away. He held her hand as she continued to slip away. Chris was crying hard as he thought about her. He couldn't do anything to help her and he felt terribly vulnerable at the moment. She took one last, silent breath and slipped away from Chris. He felt her spirit leave her body and float up to the ghostly plane of existence.

Chris wiped his eyes a bit and looked up. There was his fiancée, dressed in different clothes than the ones her human body wore. She was covered in white, satin robes and smiled down at him sadly. She couldn't even speak and neither could he. He thought a good bye, but couldn't bring himself to say it. Her spirit faded away and so did his heart. Henry Jr orbed in.

"Whoa? What's going on?" He asked his older cousins. He saw a glimpse of Nikki and fell silent immediately.

Chris didn't even seem to notice Henry Jr as he broke down in tears. "Why?" He screamed. "Why? Don't go!" He screamed. The ambulance pulled up and Kate went outside. A police car was right behind. Kate spoke to all of them at once.

"She is gone. Dead." Kate told the ambulance driver, almost robotic. She began to cry as she spoke.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Were you her sister?" The driver asked.

"No. She was my brother in law's soon to be wife. We were really close though." Kate explained.

"I'm really sorry for your loss, but if it makes you feel batter, it's rare for someone to survive something so sudden. We will take her to the morgue to find out how she died eventually. A coroner will be called as well. Are you okay with all of this?" A medical technician asked.

Kate nodded. "I will take you to her." She replied as the policemen began to block off the place with caution tape.

Kate walked inside with both a police officer and a medical technician. She took them over to her brother in law's deceased fiancée. Chris cried as he held tightly onto Nikki. He refused to let them take a look at her. He just held her limp body and cried. Chris definitely felt cursed now. He has a kidnapped sister, parents who died in an alternate reality, a brother who was the source of all evil in an alternate reality and now this!

Wy tried to calm his younger brother down. He understood just how upset and depressed Chris was. He had felt the same way when Kate had died. Wyatt hoped to help his brother get through this, but the first steps had to be made. He had to get Chris to let go.

Wyatt knelt down beside his brother. "Chris," Wyatt began. Chris didn't look up or show any sign of listening. He just continued to cry, holding Nikki close to himself. "I know how hard this is, but you have to calm down. I've been in this position and you helped me through it. Do you remember that?"

Chris simply nodded, saying nothing. Wyatt continued, hoping he was getting somewhere. "You have to understand everything I say." Wyatt paused for a moment to see if Chris was still with him. His younger brother was. Wyatt continued. "Nikki is dead. Her soul has moved on to a better place. You and I both know that. Let go, Chris. I'm not saying you have to forget right now, but you have to release her body. The coroner has to prepare her for the funeral. Please, Chris, let her go. It's what she would have wanted, right? She wouldn't have wanted you to go through this. Chris. Let go."

Chris still cried as he lessened the grip on her. Kate bent down and picked up Nikki, taking her away a bit where everyone could study her. She placed the limp body down a bit about twenty feet away. Kate looked down and closed Nikki's eyes. She began to cry as well, hiding her tears to stay strong. For Chris. She had to. Henry Jr held back tears as he began to piece together what had happened. He didn't dare say a word. He was just there for support.

The coroner arrived and began to study the body. He couldn't tell a cause of death at the moment, but he did know it was a natural death. Kate walked back over to her husband and brother in law. Chris had curled himself into a ball and rocked back and forth. He cried.

Wyatt tried to comfort his younger brother as he held back tears himself. "Chris, Lets just go home. They will take good care of her. I promise." Chris nodded. Wyatt turned to his wife. "Kate, can you handle everything for a while?"

"Yeah, sure. Take Chris home and call his family. They will want to be here for this. Now go. I got it. Besides, now Henry is here to help as well." Kate replied. Wyatt nodded and picked up his younger brother. Chris didn't fight back or show any sign of resistance as Wyatt carried him to a private area. He orbed both of them to his mother's house.

Wyatt set Chris down in his old bedroom, on his old bed. "Now, Relax." Wyatt said, grabbing his cell phone out of his pocket and walked out of the room.

The whole house was quiet. Wyatt put his phone close enough to his mouth so he could speak clearly. "Call Mom's Cell." He instructed firmly. The phone did as it was told and dialed the number. His phone rang four times, before Piper picked up.

"Hello?" Piper asked her oldest son.

"Hi Mom. Uh, something happened. At the club." Wyatt began.

Piper raised an eyebrow from the other side of the line. She excused herself from the staff at her restaurant. Piper walked into the back office and began. "Wyatt, what happened? Was it a demon?" She asked.

"No. Well, I don't think it was a demon. Mom, Nikki is dead. She died probably about a half hour ago." Wyatt told his mom.

Piper was in shock. "N-Nikki is dead-d?" She repeated, hoping it wasn't the truth. She sat down and flipped on the TV in her office. She changed the channel to the news channel. Piper listened in, but they weren't talking about her. Not yet at least. She left on the TV and turned back to her phone.

"Yes. Nikki died. In the club. A weird mist surrounded her and something made her faint. Her heart stopped beating quickly. It could be supernatural, but everyone acted as if it were the most common thing in the world. I'm thinking heart attack. Or at least some other heart problem. Maybe a demon caused it, I don't know." Wyatt explained.

Piper nodded along, even though Wyatt couldn't see her. "A heart problem? How did the doctors not catch it when she went in to get a check up on her baby?"

Wyatt noticed something she said and broke into tears. "She never got a chance to tell you, did she?" He asked through the tears in his eyes.

"Tell me w-what?" Her voice cracked as she began to cry as well.

Wyatt fought back tears to get out one sentence. "S-she was-s sup-posed to hav-ve tw-twins." He whispered into the phone.

"What? When did you find out?" Piper exclaimed, still crying.

Wyatt paused for a moment to take a couple deep breaths. "She told me and Kate tonight at the club. Chris didn't even know yet."

Piper cried. "She never got a chance to tell me!" Tears slid down her cheeks. "She was so young. I can't believe she is gone." She couldn't even talk anymore. Piper hung up and sat back in her chair, crying her eyes out as she pulled her knees to her chest. Nikki was almost like her third daughter. Besides Melinda and Kate. She was absolutely oblivious to the fact that one of her assistants was standing in the doorway.

"Piper? What's wrong, Piper?" Kellie asked as she walked over to Piper. Piper looked up, revealing her red, tear stained cheeks and watery eyes.

"My soon to be daughter in law died." Piper said, trying to numb the pain on her face. Inside it hurt so much.

Kellie pulled a chair up to Piper and smiled sadly. "Oh, Piper. I'm really sorry for your loss. It will get better. I promise. You should just go home with your family. I will control everything here." Kellie told Piper.

Piper smiled. Kellie was her fifth sister at heart. "Thank you, Kellie. Call me if you need anything. Okay?"

Kellie nodded. "Okay. Now go home and be with your family. Everything will be fine. Relax." Kellie told Piper. Piper nodded, picking up her jacket and putting it on. She took her purse and grabbed her keys out. She shoved it in her pocket and shoved her purse on her arm. Piper then moved around Kellie and walked out into the craziness of her restaurant. She smiled, before turning and making her way to the back parking lot where her car was parked.

Piper pulled open the door and slid inside, throwing her purse into the passenger seat. She pulled the door shut and buckled her seat belt. Piper touched the screen, activating it. It told her to insert her password and she did. "Drive Home." She instructed and the car did exactly as it was told. It pulled out of the parking lot and started towards home, stopping at the correct stop and go lights and stop signs.

The car pulled into the driveway of her home, fifteen minutes later. She unbuckled her seat belt and leaned over to grab the stuff from the passenger seat. Piper got out of the car and walked up the steps to the porch. Her heels tapped at the pavement with each step she took. Piper punched in the password and pressed her thumb firmly to the scanner. It only took a few moments to correctly scan her finger print and unlatch the door, allowing her to enter.

"Wyatt? Chris? I'm home!" Piper exclaimed, setting her stuff down on a small table off to the side of the entrance. She took off her coat and hung it up on the coat rack before going upstairs. She checked Mel's room first out of pure habit and obviously found no one. She then crossed the hall to Wyatt and Chris's old bedroom. Chris was fast asleep in one of the beds from all the exhaustion of the day. He had the same red, tear stained cheeks that Piper had, but like Piper's, they were fading quickly.

Piper kissed her youngest son's forehead and tucked the blanket in before looking around the room. Wyatt was slumped over in a chair, also asleep. Piper smiled, shaking him gently awake. Wyatt groaned. "Ugh! Mom? Is that you? Chris, are you okay? I'm sorry I fell asleep. What happened?" He asked, half asleep.

"Yes, Wyatt. It's me. Here, let's move you to a bed. We can figure this out in the morning. Don't be sorry either. You need sleep. Now come on." Piper encouraged, helping the half asleep young man move to a bed. He pretty much collapsed and rolled over before he was fast asleep again. Piper smiled, tucking in her older son as well. Yes, they always would be her little boys.

Wyatt's cell phone slid out of his pocket and landed on the bed. Piper picked it up and moved it aside. She then went downstairs to call the rest of the family, especially Kate who was handling the club by herself. Kate was the first she called.

Kate picked up on the first try. "Hello, Piper?" Kate asked, noticing that Piper had just called.

"Is everything okay? I heard about what happened. Wyatt called me. Do you need help?" Piper asked, biting her lip.

Kate nodded. Uh, no. I got everything. Henry is here to help. They just took away Nikki's body to the morgue. We can deal with funeral arrangements later. It sucks that Nikki really doesn't have any family to turn to. That means we will be in charge of the funeral." Kate explained.

Piper nodded. "Okay. Uh, you sure you don't want me to stop by? It's no problem. Really!" Piper insisted.

"Uh, if you insist, but we have everything under control." Kate replied. A police officer walked up to her. "Hold on a second, Piper. Henry will talk to you." Kate pulled the phone away from her mouth and called for HJ. He ran over. Kate quickly explained and handed the phone to him, turning and walking away to talk to the officer.

"Hi, Piper." Henry Jr began.

"Hello Henry. So is everything really okay there or is Kate just getting me to relax and de stress?" Piper asked.

Henry Jr smirked. "Yeah. She is just playing you. Everything is terrible. The officers are trying to hold back everyone that wants to charge in and destroy the police. There is blood everywhere." Henry Jr paused for a moment before beginning. "Piper, I'm just kidding. Everything is completely fine. They are almost done anyways. We could stop over afterwards if you would like?" He offered.

"No, thank you, Henry. I'm going to call my sisters and Leo right afterwards. Thanks again. Talk to you tomorrow." Piper ended.

"You're welcome Aunt Piper. Good night." Henry replied. Piper hung up, dialing her husband's cell number next.

"Hi, honey. Is something wrong? I was just cleaning up after classes and I will be home soon." Leo replied, shuffling papers around.

Piper released her breath. "Thanks. Just hurry home. I don't want to be alone. Please, hurry." Piper begged.

"Okay. Is something wrong?" Leo asked, hurrying. He could sense how scared and upset she was just by her voice.

"I'd prefer just to tell you in person. Can you hurry? Stay on the phone with me. Don't hang up. I think someone is here with me." Piper whispered as she flicked on another light in the house as she walked around.

Leo could tell she was terrified and just forgot the papers. His students would understand that his family was more important. He grabbed the teleporting potion. "I will be there soon. Just hang on. Turn on all the lights and relax." He told her.

Piper swallowed nervously. "I am." She replied, breathing harder. Leo chucked the teleporting potion at the triquetra on the wall. It was a special portal that the sisters had helped create so Leo could get back and forth between the Magic School and home since he was mortal now.

He appeared on the staircase. Piper jumped from the other room and ran in. She hung up her cell before running at Leo. Piper wrapped her arms around him to form a tight hug.

Leo smiled and hugged her back. "Uh, hi honey. Do you want to tell me what's going on now?"

Piper explained what had happened with Nikki. She then told them about how she felt like she was being watched. Leo held her tighter as he listened to what she had to say. He couldn't believe Nikki was...dead. He couldn't believe it and it was going to take him awhile to do so. Time he didn't have. "So, uh, Who all knows about Nikki?" Leo asked.

"Well, Wyatt, Chris, Kate, Henry Jr and well, you and me. That's it. I was going to call my sisters and the twins as soon as you got home." Piper explained. "Kate and HJ are at P3 wrapping up things there and Wyatt and Chris are upstairs sleeping. They were just exhausted. Kellie is covering for me at work until I'm ready to go back."

Leo nodded. "So what about the watching thing?"

Piper shrugged. "I don't know. I just came down stairs and I was just terrified. I felt like someone was in the house and watching me. Like they were stalking me..."

"Hm. I don't know. What if you were? I mean, by some sort of demon or something. It's definitely possible." Leo replied with a shrug. "I don't know. We will deal with that in the morning. You should call your sisters."

Piper nodded and was about to dial her sister, Phoebe when she felt like someone was watching her again. She spun around and looked around. She was getting paranoid and scared. Piper thought she saw something in the mirror behind her. It must have been her imagination, but it was gone now. "Leo? Am I just being paranoid or did you see it too?"

Leo frowned. "Come on, honey. Nothing is watching you. Let's just go upstairs." Leo wrapped an arm around her waist and led her toward the stairs. She cooperated, still looking back to make sure it was really nothing and she was just paranoid. When they reached the stairs, she turned away from the mirror and they went upstairs.

A face appeared in the mirror. One of a middle aged woman. One with blonde, curly hair and deep yellow eyes. They were eyes that could scare anyone. Leo and Piper finished the staircase and went into their bedroom as the face cackled and disappeared again.

(That was a really long chapter! An interesting one too. Poor Nikki. And Chris. And Piper. Poor well, just about everyone in this chapter! Sucks! Of course, it's chapter 13! Who do you think the mirror lady is?)


	14. Mel's New Life

Chapter Fourteen: Mel's New Life

A couple more days had passed in the Underworld and Mel was getting used to living in the Underworld. She didn't care that it had been two weeks since she had been kidnapped and brought there. She didn't mind the fact that her family was worried sick. Mel was becoming more and more friendly to the demons and they were kind back. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were beginning to tell her their plans. She hadn't tried to escape again since the last time. Melinda loved her books and her room. She was comfortable now that The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were allowing her to go up to the earth and get fresh air and sunlight.

Life was great as far as she was concerned. Mel slept soundly in her bed. It was quarter after nine. War (Zankou) flamed into her bedroom. The sound was enough to wake her up. She sat up in her bed and yawned, pulling her covers closer to her. "Excuse me! Privacy, please!" She exclaimed.

War (Zankou) rolled his eyes. "Sorry. I was just coming to see if you were awake yet. Breakfast will be in fifteen minutes. See you there." Mel nodded and he flamed back out. She yawned again and pushed her covers off of her, rolling out of bed. Melinda picked an outfit out of the closet. It was a low cut leather top and tight black leather pants. She paired these with black combat boots and black belt. It was a pretty typical outfit for her lately. She jumped in the shower.

Ten minutes later, she was dressed and in the bathroom blow drying her hair. She finished up and made her bed, cleaning up a bit. Mel took a deep breath and head out the door towards the dining room. She hadn't been in the formal dining room for a while. She actually preferred the smaller dining room. It was less formal and more like home. It was also always warm and cozy. She walked over to the counter and a lower level demon handed her a cup of coffee. Mel smiled. They knew her too well.

Mel took a seat at the table that barely fit five people every morning. She drank her coffee as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse slowly began to take a seat. Soon, someone placed a large plate in front of her. She picked up her fork.

Death (Barbas) was too impatient. "Mel, you will begin training today." He stated, emotionlessly.

Mel set her fork down and looked up at him. "Training? What sort of training?" she was eager and curious. Death (Barbas) didn't say any more as he was met with a glare from War (Zankou). Famine (Tempus) rolled his eyes and explained. "Demonic training. As you know, your powers were revoked before you even got here. Today, this changes. Your powers will be granted one at a time as we teach you to relearn how to use each of them. You will see the training room today, a place you were not allowed before. You will use you powers correctly and only as we say."

Melinda nodded, smiling. She looked at the others, excited to have her powers back. "When do we start!" She exclaimed.

Strife (Cole) spoke up. "Right after breakfast. We need to get you back in training. Some demons are rebelling and you will need your powers if they attack you. You will use them as we say or we will take them back. Do you understand?" He firmly asked.

"Yes! Thank you so much!" Mel exclaimed leaning over to hug Strife (Cole). He jerked away immediately glaring at her. "Oh, I'm so sorry." She stumbled, pulling away.

"It's okay." Strife (Cole) explained. "Now eat up. You will need your strength." Melinda nodded as she picked up her fork again and began to eat the scrambled eggs on her plate. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ate as well.

Ten minutes later, Melinda finished both her food and her coffee. She placed her dirty dishes in the sink and waited for the others to do the same. They then took a short walk. Melinda was extremely excited. She knew she would be out of practice now, but was happy to get back to work. The hallway soon opened up into a large room. It looked like a battlefield. Sports and training stuff was scattered throughout the room. One was a large target with pictures of innocents and witches. Another wall was a weapons showcase. It had lots of large spikes, throwing stars and the usual demonic weapons. She walked into the center of the room.

Mel noticed that there were many demons about. This excited her. It was more demons to borrow powers from when the time came for her to get her power to mimic others. She decided to see just how out of practice she was. Mel turned toward a bag that was hanging from the ceiling and did a simple round kick into it. This was easy for her so she decided to try a combination. The first she tried was a Jab, Punch, Front round kick, Punch. It went pretty smoothly. She tried another- Front Round, Back Round, Jump Back Round. On this one, Mel landed a little off on the jump, but it still looked pretty good. She was still able to pull her leg up nicely when she kicked.

The brunette decided to try something more difficult. She chambered her kick with a nice spin. With the momentum, she picked the front leg and did a round with the other. The tornado kick threw her off balance and she fell to the ground. Mel jumped back up, facing The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. War (Zankou) raised an eye brow. He was fairly impressed. It was a good kick for being out of practice as long as she had been.

Mel smiled looking up. Her knee had a small bruise on it, but she was fine. She could barely feel the pain. Her pants had kept her from getting hurt any further. "So where do we start?" She asked.

War (Zankou) smiled. "You just did. Your powers will take a while to relearn, but I don't think it will be as hard to get your martial arts back up to speed. It looks like you remember most of it anyways. This will help you until your powers begin to work. We will start training on your powers soon though. Just not now. Okay?"

Melinda nodded. "Well, how do I train though?" She asked.

War (Zankou) simply smirked as a demon shimmered in behind her and grabbed her arms. Melinda grabbed the demon's arms and did a forward flip so she was facing him. She let go and chambered a side kick. Melinda stomped it out into his stomach and he doubled over. She smiled, turning back at The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Death (Barbas) nodded. "Not too bad." He replied, waving a hand. Another demon appeared and grabbed around her waist. She squatted down, popping up her arms. This broke his grip on her. She then grabbed his arms and tripped him. He swung around and landed a couple feet away. A third demon shimmered in. Melinda did a back hand spring, kicking him in the face. She then slid to the ground and swiped his feet out from underneath him.

He fell as well. Mel faced a foot on top of him in victory. She smiled and wiped the sweat off her forehead. The first demon recovered and threw an energy ball at her back. She sensed the change and ducked, falling into a push up position. He took two steps forward, enough for her to push her feet up and kick him in his chest. She rolled out of the hand stand and stood up.

"Stay down!" She instructed, walking over to The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The other demons were dismissed and they shimmered away.

Strife (Cole) smiled. "Let's take it up a notch." He said, pushing her into the center of the battle arena. Mel looked around nervously. Cole was the one who had taught her aunt how to become a stronger fighter. Would he know all the moves that her Aunt Phoebe had taught her? She wasn't sure, but didn't intend to find out. Mel decided to use moves that she had taught herself instead. There was no way he could possibly know those.

Strife (Cole) studied her for a moment. Dang, she really did look like her mother. He stepped forward, beginning with a spin kick to the head. Mel quickly ducked, in the correct position for a swipe. She did, but he jumped. Strife (Cole) landed as she stood up. She did a side kick to his stomach, but he side stepped out of the way. Her leg slid past him and landed. This allowed her to do a hook kick round kick combo. The hook hit him in the arm, and she didn't have time to hit him with the round kick because he was already out of the way. Strife (Cole) used a turn side kick, but she easily dodged it. She returned with a double round kick, the second striking his rib cage. He flinched, but didn't seem anywhere close to giving up.

Strife (Cole) did a hook kick to her head, but again, she dodged it. She spotted an opening at his rib cage. Mel spun around and kicked up her foot into a round kick. It was a pretty bad kick though. Strife (Cole) grabbed it before it reached his rib cage. Without even noticing, he twisted it. Melinda winced and pulled back her ankle. She fell to the ground and rubbed her ankle.

She pushed herself back up, hiding another wince. Mel had to tell herself, 'You are a Halliwell and Halliwells are strong and powerful. They never gave up and you won't either!' Her aunt's words echoed in her ears as she got ready to fight again.

Cole smiled. Phoebe had clearly already taught her niece the value of using pain in a positive way. The same lesson that he had taught Phoebe almost 25 years ago. He shook his head and stepped away. "Enough. Enough for today. We don't want to wear you out. The battle room is open for you to use whenever you want, otherwise we will see you here tomorrow at the same time."

Mel nodded. "Thank you." She turned to leave as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse flamed out. She wandered around the Underworld for a while. She couldn't wait to get her powers back. Mel soon noticed that nothing looked familiar to her anymore. She looked around, confused. Where was she? Everything looked the same in the Underworld. She was lost.


	15. The Woman in the Mirror

Chapter Fifteen: The Woman in the Mirror

Phoebe, Coop, Patty, Patience, Penelope, Paige, Henry, the twins, Henry Jr, Piper and Leo sat in the living room. Wyatt and Chris were still fast asleep upstairs. Kate sat with them. She was too depressed to go downstairs. Piper had just broken the news about Nikki.

"What?" Phoebe exclaimed, standing up. "Sh-she's dead-d?"

Piper nodded. "She is gone. The doctors know she died of natural causes. They wouldn't tell Kate what they thought it was, but they seemed like they saw the thing every day." Piper replied.

"Well, what could it be? Normal, healthy women don't just lose consciousness and stop breathing." Paige pointed out.

"Obviously they don't do that, but what if she wasn't as healthy as we thought she was?" Patty asked.

Phoebe looked at her oldest daughter and thought for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what if she had something wrong with her that none of us knew about. Maybe she didn't even know about it. Like a heart disease or something." Patty explained her thinking.

Piper processed this. "No, I don't think so. With all of the doctor appointments, I'm sure they would have found out and told her."

"Yeah, but if she knew, why didn't she tell anyone?" Leo asked.

"Maybe she was afraid to. She probably didn't want anyone to worry about her." Peyton pointed out.

"I don't care if she didn't want us to worry. She should have told someone." Piper insisted, getting upset at Nikki. Leo, who sat next to her, wrapped an arm around Piper and pulled her close.

Phoebe sighed. "So, you guys know what this means, right?" Piper and Paige shook their heads. "We have to set up her funeral. Her parents were alcoholics and abusive. They are too mentally unstable to even deal with their daughter dying, much less set a funeral up. Besides, they are in rehab. That leaves this to us."

Piper cried into Leo's shoulder. She was not ready to think about Nikki as dead yet, much less prepare her for a funeral. She was just going through so much. First her daughter and now her soon to be daughter in law. She sobbed, cuddling up to her husband. Leo remained silent as he held her close and rubbed her back.

Paige looked at Phoebe and listened, but could help but break into tears as well. She didn't know Nikki as well as she would have liked, but Nikki was still family to her. Even if Nikki and Chris weren't married, she was and always would be family. Henry wrapped an arm around his wife and pulled her close.

Phoebe held back her tears, trying to stay strong because one of them had to. "We don't have to start planning immediately, but we have to soon." She pointed out. "Like Prue, we will never be ready, but we have to work through this."

Prue orbed in. "Oh, girls. I'm so sorry. I heard, but couldn't intervene. I have other news for you. Bad news, I'm afraid. Right before Nikki died, she had this feeling she was being watched. This feeling was true. She was being watched, by the same person who was watching you, Piper. Nikki did not die of any supernatural cause, though. She died of sudden cardiac arrest and she has been having heart problems since she was a little girl. It was only a matter of time before she died. It's genetic."

Piper looked up at her older sister. "SCA? Are you sure? You are saying she has had heart troubles forever and hasn't told us? She also could have passed it on to her twins?" She wiped the tears from her eyes. She was angered at Nikki now. "How could she have not thought to tell us these things?" Leo tried to calm her down the best he could.

"Piper, relax. I am sure she wanted to tell you, but never could for whatever reason." Leo told her. "Just calm down so we can talk about this rationally."

"No Leo, I will not calm down! She put my grandchildren at risk of heart problems without telling me and I will not stand for this. I am summoning her ass so she can explain!" Piper yelled, standing up and storming up the stairs.

Leo followed after Piper. "Honey, relax." He kept repeating. Piper seemed to ignore him as she walked over to the book.

Phoebe and Paige followed close behind Leo, leaving the others downstairs to talk. "Piper you are not thinking this through. You are letting you emotions get the better of you. You need to calm down for a while so you can think clearly." Phoebe advised.

Piper looked up. "No I am not, Phoebe. I AM thinking clearly. What I need is to find the damn summoning spell in this book." She was just as stubborn as she usually was.

"It's not even going to work. None of them will. You did the same thing when Prue died and it didn't work, did it? No. How do you think it will work this time?" Paige asked.

"Because I just know, okay? This is different than Prue. Now help me or get out of my way!" Piper exclaimed. She rapidly flipped the pages in the book, but something fought back against her, turning the pages the other way. She let go of the pages. "Not funny, Grams!" She shouted at the roof.

"That wasn't Grams." Prue replied, orbing in. "And it isn't any different than it was with me. You wanted to summon me for information and now you want to summon Nikki for the exact same thing. Piper, you tend to go to extremes with your emotions. You need to take a step back and just rest. You are too strung out and stressed. Take a day off and go to the spa or something. The point is to just relax for once in your life. After I died, you forced yourself to become the motherly figure and leader out of the group and I don't think that is who you really are. Piper, you are a kind, sweet, sensitive woman who loves to cook and hang out with her friends and sisters. Being the leader is my job and besides, it got me killed. I don't want the same thing to happen to you." Prue explained to her sister as she led Piper away from the book and they sat down on the couch. Piper laid her head down on Prue's shoulder.

"Prue, I don't know how I made it without you. You are the one who made me strong. The one I turned to for advice, guidance and reassurance. You were always there, even to just talk. No matter what. Prue, you are my hero." Piper told her older sister as she began to cry on Prue's shoulder.

Prue pulled her sister closer and let her cry on her shoulder. "I know, Piper. It hurts. I know it does." She replied.

Piper just cried. "How do I forget her? She was like my daughter."

"You don't, Piper. You won't forget her, but you will have to move on." Prue explained. "Now, Come on. We have some work to do."

Piper sat up and looked at her sister, wiping her eyes. "What do you mean?" She asked, confused.

"We have to figure out who the stalker is. Just because he or she didn't kill Nikki, doesn't mean he or she won't try to hurt any of you. Are you ready for all of this?" Prue asked.

Piper nodded. "I am as ready as I ever will be. Let's vanquish that son of a bitch." She got up and walked over to the book. Piper picked it up and took a deep breath before walking across the room and took it downstairs. Prue, Phoebe, Paige and Leo followed. They went downstairs to reunite with the rest of the family.

Piper set the book down on the coffee table and took a seat on the couch. The rest of her family crowded around her as she opened the cover and began to turn the pages. "Do we have any clues?" She asked, biting the inside of her cheek.

Leo shook his head. "I don't know. You are the one who sensed him or her. Well..." He stopped, shutting his mouth.

Piper sighed and slammed the cover of the book. "Well, this isn't gonna help then. Not until we have some other clue. Piper looked up to her left at the mirror. She noticed a smudge on it. "Excuse me." She said, walking over to the mirror.

She wiped the smudge away from the glass, turning to her family. "Is it gone?" She asked.

Patience nodded. "No. Not quite." Piper turned back to the mirror and began to rub at the smudge. A face appeared in the mirror. The yellow eyes stared back at her as smoke began to appear around her. Piper tried to take her hand away from the mirror, but she couldn't. It was like it was stuck.

"Piper!" Everyone screamed as they stood up and ran towards her. The smoke swirled around her as her head began to spin. She had a sudden feeling of being pulled away from her own body. Piper fell to the ground just as Nikki had, but everyone knew that this time it wasn't because of sudden cardiac arrest. Leo reached and bent to his knees. "Piper, are you okay?" He asked.

She opened her eyes and smiled. They had a yellowish tint that they normally didn't have, but quickly went back to normal. "Yeah. Never better. Why?" She asked, with a small smirk.

Leo knew something was wrong right away. He stood up and backed away. Piper pushed herself to her feet. She wore a smirk, one that was almost evil. Leo looked frightened as he stepped away. So did everyone else. Piper focused in on Leo. She stepped towards him, but he just took another step backwards. Piper frowned. "Is something wrong, hun?" She asked. "You look scared."

Leo shook his head, nervously. "No. Everything is fine." He said, quickly trying to get out the words as he stepped away from her again.

"Hun, you sure?" She asked, smirking. She stepped forward again, pinning Leo between the wall and her. He looked around nervously, trying to find a way to get away from her.

Piper threw Leo across the room. Leo smashed into a wall and fell to the floor. Paige ran over and healed her brother in law. Piper turned her attention to Phoebe next. She threw a wave of fire at her sister. Phoebe yelped and fell to the floor to dodge the fire. The fire flew into the wall behind her and left a mark. Piper then turned to her eldest niece, Patty and trying to blow her up. Patty quickly closed her eyes and focused on Piper. She was able to have enough power to defend herself against her aunt's attack.

Leo recovered and stood up. "Rose! Watch out!" He exclaimed as Piper threw a fire ball at Rose. She dodged the fire ball, but not quickly enough. It grazed her arm and she fell to the ground, grabbing her arm. Blood gushed from the open wound. Peyton felt her sister's pain and fell to her knees to immediately heal her twin sister. The wound was healing, but not fast enough. Rose was losing a lot of blood and rather quickly as well. Henry Jr bent down to help Peyton heal his older sister. The wound finally closed, but Rose was still weak from pain as well as loss of blood.

Patty and her sisters joined hands, focusing solely on Piper. Without being given instructions, they simply knew what to do. They had each read about it in the book somewhere when their mothers had forced them to study the book when they were each six. The girls knew the book inside and out along with the rest of their family. They tapped into Piper's power to slow down molecules to the point of stopping, and used it against her.

Piper obviously didn't freeze since she was a good witch, but Kali did. Piper fell to the floor and pushed herself away from Kali. Penelope used the telekinesis from her ring to throw Kali back into the mirror. Patience walked over to the mirror and levitated to kick the mirror. It shattered into a billion tiny fragments that scattered all over the floor of the room. A couple pieces touched her skin and left shallow cuts that only bled a little bit. The woman's reflection in the mirror shattered as well as it screamed, promising her everlasting revenge to The Charmed Ones and their children. Leo helped Piper up.

Patience gently pulled the glass shards out of her skin and threw them away. She then walked into the kitchen and grabbed a towel to clean up the blood on her arms. She rinsed the towel with cool water and applied firm pressure to the cuts on her arms. It stung a little bit, but much less than if Patience were to just let the blood go. Phoebe walked into the kitchen and helped clean her daughter up while Paige ran to get a broom and dust pan. Piper got everyone away from the scene so Paige could clean up.

The noise from the glass shattering was enough to startle Wyatt and Chris. They both shot straight up in their beds and ran downstairs, followed by Kate. They were exhausted, but they just had to find out what was going on. They stopped at the bottom of the staircase. Wyatt noticed the shattered glass and looked at his mother in concern.

"What happened?" Wyatt asked as he walked over to his mother.

Piper shrugged. "Oh, you know the usual. Found out that a high priestess named Kali was going to possess Nikki, but she died before Kali could possess her. Then, Kali came here for revenge and possessed me when I touched the mirror. Patty, Pat and Penny froze Kali, breaking her possession on me. Then we put her back in the mirror and shattered her reflection. It's just the usual." Piper said, sarcastically.

Wyatt looked confused and dumb-founded. "We slept through all of that?"

"Pretty much. That's what she just said. Keep up, bro, will you?" Chris replied in a playful manner. Wyatt rolled his eyes at his little brother and looked up at Patience who had returned to the room.

Kate looked up as well, noticing the small cuts on her arms. "What happened?" she asked.

"Oh, these. I just got a little cut up by the glass. It's no big deal. We get hit worse every day. Could you, though?" Patience said, motioning to the cuts on her arms. Kate smiled and nodded, walking over and placing her hands over the cuts. A small, yet bright blue light emitted from her hands and shinned down on Patience's beautifully golden skin. The cuts quickly closed up and Kate stepped away. Patience smiled. "Thank you, Kate."

"It's no big deal." Kate dismissed. Patience nodded.

Rose looked up with a smile. "Well, what do we do now?" She asked.

Everyone laughed a bit. "Can't stay out of the excitement too long, could you Rose?" Paige asked as she finished cleaning up the glass.

Rose smiled. "No. I'm sure the excitement isn't over yet. We have Nikki's funeral and we still have to get Mel back. This is far from over. The Battle to End All Battles will be here soon as well. All of this has to be done soon so we can get back to training."

"I think this IS our training." Patty replied. Chris stood a bit away from the group. He played with the ring on his finger, rotating it slowly. He suddenly had a flashback to earlier that night.

'Kate had smiled and leaned in to whisper something to Nikki. "You two looked very nice out there. When are you two getting married again?"

Nikki then pulled away. "March 15th. Just five months before the due date of the twins." Nikki said out loud. "Why?"

Kate shook her head. "No reason. I was just curious."

"You weren't planning on throwing me a bridal shower or something, were you?" Nikki asked.

"No!" Kate exclaimed, going into defense mode. "You specifically stated that you didn't want a shower!" Kate exclaimed, bringing her glass to her face. She took a long gulp of the root beer and set it back down. Nikki was still looking at her suspiciously. "What?" Kate asked.

"Oh, nothing." Nikki replied innocently enough.

Wyatt and Chris watched the girls' conversation. Wyatt chuckled lightly. They got along pretty well, despite the age difference. Chris smiled at his soon to be wife. Nikki suddenly frowned. She felt like she was about to throw up. Everyone else noticed this as well. Kate stood up and helped Nikki rush to the bathroom.'

That had only been the beginning of the troubles. Chris had not known at the time, but things got a lot worse than morning sickness. Just hours ago, Chris had been a man that was soon to be married to his fiancée and he was happy. How could life change so much in such little time? Chris released a tear that slid slowly down his cheeks. He would never get the chance to see Nikki in her wedding dress or to say his vows to her. He would never get to kiss her one last time. Chris would be going to Nikki's funeral now instead of their wedding. He cried, but no one was there to comfort him. He felt alone. Chris excused himself from his family to go cry in the privacy and quietness of the apartment he and Nikki used to share.

Wyatt watched his brother leave and solemnly said to his family. "We will find Melinda and bring her back home safely. For Chris's sake if nothing else. He just lost his fiancée and I won't let him lose his little sister too. I'm the eldest and it's my job to protect this family and damn it, I plan on doing just that." He said, firmly. Everyone else nodded. They all wanted Mel back really bad. They went up to the attic to scry for her again.

Mel had been relaxing in the comfort of her new room without even knowing how much pain her family was going through. She had just gotten back from her walk where she had gotten a little lost. It hadn't taken long to find her way again, though. This place was like her home now.

She was watching TV now, but had a sudden urge to go do something. Mel was really confused lately. She had grown up believing that demons were always evil and that they were the enemies, but from everything she had experienced since she had been trapped in The Underworld, led her to believe otherwise. They were very kind and helpful to her. It never crossed her mind that they could be using her, because she had just gotten so friendly with the demons. Somewhere in her mind, she understood that these were demons and that they could really hurt her, but it didn't matter to her anymore.

Still, she wanted to take a walk and get some fresh air up on Earth to clear her head. She walked down to The Center, as they called it, where The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse usually hung out. Melinda made her way to the front. The demons stepped out of the ways as if she was The Queen of The Underworld or something, but she thought little of it. She walked up to War (Zankou), who she knew of as the leader. She didn't talk with him much, but she knew that War (Zankou) was always the one to go to for this kind of thing. Mel stood in front of him.

"Sir, I was kind of wondering if I could possibly go back up to Earth for a bit. I'm growing restless down here and would prefer to go up there where I could take a walk in the sunshine and fresh air. Would you allow me to do so?" Mel asked, very formally.

War (Zankou) had to think for a moment, but he finally did agree. "Go get ready." He instructed. "I will have a servant in your room in ten minutes. Be ready and he will take you. Follow all of his instructions clearly and if he tells you it's time to leave, it is time to leave. Do you understand me?"

Melinda nodded. "Yes, Sir." She turned and left, going through the crowd the same way she had come in. She walked back to her room and changed into something less revealing and demonic. There wasn't much in the closet that didn't fall under one of the categories. She chose a plain black t-shirt, black sweat shirt and dark denim jeans. She wore the same belt, but swiped the combat boots out for plain sneakers. She then slipped on her warm, but not very heavy coat to stay warm. Mel really didn't want to stick out up there. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail with a black hair band and tucked her side swept bangs behind her ears.

She grabbed her bag and stuffed a couple books in it that weren't necessarily demonic or even magical for that matter. She decided to choice a larger dark fiction novel, a book on spirits and a small chapter book that was a story of a girl who had been possessed by the devil. Sure, they were dark books, and ones she loved, but people wouldn't think she was from some crazy cult that sacrificed animals and babies for fun.

Mel then grabbed a Pepsi out of her mini fridge and packed it away as well. She picked out a small blanket to cuddle up with. She just wanted to hang out at the park and read, which she had been doing a lot lately- reading. Melinda had just finished packing when a demonic slave dark orbed in. He didn't say anything, but Mel could tell that this dark lighter was angry and hated her. He reached out a hand and Mel took it like she usually did. He dark orbed out and into the San Francisco Park.

Melinda smiled. When she breathed, her breath showed in the air. It was freezing, but she kind of liked the cold. She curled up on a park bench, pulling the blanket out of her back pack. The blanket was mostly to sit on since the bench was pretty cold. There weren't many people at the park besides a couple people off to the side. Mel was kind of surprised. The park was usually packed with people this time of the year. The young woman shrugged and pulled her bag up next to her, taking out the dark fiction novel. She ran her finger lightly across the top of the book mark and smiled. Mel opened up the book and tucked the book mark safety away under her leg. The girl then skimmed the last page to get back into the book.

The dark lighter stood off to the side so he could give her some privacy, while still keeping a close eye on Melinda. He folded his arms across his chest as he surveyed the area. It was calm and he didn't sense any threats, so he leaned against a large tree and closed his eyes. He was soon lying at the base of the tree, fast asleep.

Melinda read her book, enjoying the silence and fresh air. She looked up at the dark lighter after a few minutes and noticed he was asleep. She figured one little walk couldn't hurt. She packed up her things and slung the back pack over one shoulder. Mel then began walking towards a group of trees. It would be a decent walk and she couldn't get too far away. This minimized the risk of getting lost, though she had been to the park a lot as a child. She knew a good deal of the park and how to get around. Even without powers.

She began to day dream as she walked, not even noticing how far she was already. The trees hadn't been as far as she had thought they were, but she was following a path now. A group of people orbed in to her right up ahead. Mel froze and waited for their faces to register.


	16. Back Home

Chapter Sixteen: Back Home

"Mom? Dad?" She asked, getting closer to the adults. She was shocked. Piper smiled, crying from joy and relief as she ran to grab her daughter and pull into a tight embrace.

"Mel!" Patience exclaimed, pushing a couple family members out of the way so she could get closer to her cousin.

Mel tensed a bit at the sudden embraces of her family. It made her a bit nervous to be close to people again. Everyone understood, thinking it was just the influence of all the demons.

Wyatt was very relieved to have his younger sister back. He called out for Chris, who orbed in, depressed.

"What?" Chris asked, sadly.

Wyatt's straight face transformed itself into a smile as he stepped out of the way to reveal Mel. Chris took a deep breath of relief and began to tear up. Patience stepped away from hugging Melinda.

"Mel! You're back!" He stepped forward to hug his sister. He had been devastated when Mel had been kidnapped, and he was definitely glad she was back. She was safe and sound, in the gentle embrace of his arms.

Melinda smiled, slightly as her brother hugged her. "Uh, Chris, could you get off me? I can't breathe." Chris smiles, stepping away a bit.

Wyatt began to tease her. "Where did you go, silly? We missed you."

Melinda smiled. "Oh, I just went to The Underworld. I'm not sure where, though." She said, nonchalant.

Wyatt smiled. "And you slipped by my radar how?"

Mel laughed. It was just the type of question Wyatt would ask. She was glad to have such great brothers. Sure, they were sometimes overprotective, but it truly was out of love. After spending so such time in The Underworld, she felt different. She was still so confused about who was right. She began to think that maybe her family had lied to her about demons being cruel. She hadn't witnessed anything cruel or mean while she had been there. It bothered her, but she didn't say anything. She would have if she hadn't been pulled out of her thoughts.

Someone pulled Melinda into a huge group hug with her brothers, cousins, parents, aunts, uncles, and sister in law. They squished her tightly before loosening up a bit so she didn't suffocate. Someone orbed all of them back to Halliwell Manor, but no one bothered to find out who it was. They all let go and went to hang out in the Four Season room.

Piper excused herself to go grab some snacks. Mel looked around at the house she had grown up in, but it felt a bit odd. She figured she was just too used to being around demons and the underworld. Piper soon returned with a couple bowls of various snack foods and placed them on the table. Mel turned as her dad began to talk to her.

"So who held you hostage again?" Leo asked her.

"Hostage?" Melinda asked. She hadn't thought of it as hostage. "It wasn't hostage."

Wyatt looked over at his little sister. "They held you against your will, didn't they?"

"Well, not really. They really didn't seem to care if I left. I was pretty much allowed to do what I wanted. You make that sound so bad!" Mel said.

Wyatt was shocked at that. "What? They didn't hold you in a jail cell or something? Why didn't you escape then?"

"I didn't have my powers! They took them, but I was allowed to come up to Earth whenever I wanted. With a guard of course." Melinda replied, shrugging.

Chris looked confused. "They took away your powers so you couldn't leave, but they let you come up here whenever you wanted? Why didn't you try to escape when you got up here?"

"Well, I… I…" Melinda thought for a moment.

"You what? Come on, spit it out!" Leo instructed.

"I liked it there!" Mel spat out.

Everyone turned to stare at her. "You what? You liked it?"

Melinda bit her lip. "Yeah. They made me my own bedroom, bathroom and closet. I had interesting books to read, cool clothes, good food and was allowed to use the training room whenever I wanted. I was allowed to do things I wasn't allowed here. Everyone was so kind. I liked it."

Piper looked at her daughter. "Demons were kind to you? What kind of demons were they?"

"They were all different kinds. They were pretty powerful, almost source like. The main ones were kind and let me do what I wanted. There were a few warlocks and Darklighters too. The demons were very nice." Melinda replied.

"Mel, I think you're delusional! Demons aren't nice. They are mean, cruel and evil, not nice!" Patience told her best friend and cousin.

Melinda felt slightly uncomfortable. They treated her like she was wrong and confused. It made her feel more like an innocent. "Um, can I just go lay down? I'm a little tired." She asked.

Piper nodded. "Yeah, honey. You can go get some rest. I'll call you later for dinner."

Mel nodded slowly and pushed through her family to get to the stairs. The girl ran up the stairs and into her room, shutting and locking the door behind her. She looked at the bag that had been brought up to her room when she had gotten home. On the side was the sign of the Omega with a small lightning bolt in the corner. She set the bag on her bed and dumped it out.

Inside were the few books she had decided to bring, a small blanket, a soda and an envelope at the bottom. She pushed the other things aside, grabbed the envelope and leaned against the wall that her bed was pushed up against. Melinda slowly opened up the envelope and looked inside at the contents.

The first thing she pulled out was a piece of paper. It had the same symbols as the bag on it and was hand written with jet black ink. The handwriting was firm and even looked a bit demonic. Then again, it was written on demonic stationary. She picked it up and read:

Melinda,

I knew you would escape eventually, but that's fine. You will come back to us when you find out what your family is hiding from you. Just wait and see. Don't tell your family anymore about us. They just don't understand like you do. They are too twisted and stuck in their own morality to care about you anymore. You heard what they said. They didn't even believe you. They think you are delusional and lost.

You can always come back to the ones that care.

Cole and the others

Melinda had just finished reading the note from Cole, when it burst into flames. Cole was right. They really didn't care much anymore. It was a little odd knowing that Cole had been in her house, but all she could think about was what her family could be hiding from her. They had always told her everything. How could so much have changed in the little while she was gone?

Melinda looked through the envelope some more and pulled out a black and silver bracelet. It had a small note attached that said:

This is in case you want to come back. Press the small black and red heart and you will be back by our side.

Mel smiled. She was happy to finally have a choice. Every decision in her life was made by someone else and now she could finally make up her own mind. She looked at the last thing in the envelope- a book. She picked it up. The book was dark (as usual). Melinda opened it up and flipped through the pages. It was like a Book of Shadows for the evil. It had spells, journal entries, stories and drawing. The first page said:

It's just a little something to hold you over until we can meet again. This is a copy of my journal. Feel free to read and add to it. It's yours now. We have granted you back your spell casting ability so you can use some of the spells in this book.

Melinda smiled as she heard someone coming upstairs. She lifted up her rug up and pulled up a loose floor board. She shoved all the things in the floor and replaced both the board and the rug. Mel sat back down on her bed and acted normal.

Phoebe knocked on her niece's door. "Melinda? Can I come in?"

"Yeah. Hold on." Mel said, getting out of bed and going to unlock the door. Phoebe walked into the room and shut the door behind her. Melinda sat back down on her bed, this time with her aunt.

"Are you okay? You seem different since you got back. I know you were in The Underworld for a while and the influences are strong there, but are you okay?" Phoebe asked.

Melinda stood up. "Yeah. I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Mel replied, cleaning up her room a bit.

"You just seem different. I can't believe your dad and brothers drilled you like that, but you did seem a bit off. You didn't really care and you were a bit lost." Phoebe said, watching Mel with skepticism.

"Phoebe, I'm fine. I just feel off from being in The Underworld so long. Can you just go? I want to be alone." Mel replied, slightly annoyed at her family's prying.

Phoebe sighed. "Mel, we are here for you. You know that, right? We want you to feel safe. You can talk to any of us. The guys shouldn't have been so careless."

Melinda became more annoyed. "I KNOW, Aunt Phoebe. Just leave, please. I want to be alone." She pleaded.

Phoebe nodded. "Fine. We'll be downstairs if you need us." With that out, she stood up and left the room in silence. Mel waited at the door for Phoebe to leave and shut the door behind her. She locked it again, before lifting up the board and rug to grab the little black book. She smiled, sitting down on the bed and crossed her legs. She set the book in her lap and flipped slowly through the pages.

Melinda soon found a page that had the word 'Spells' written in firm handwriting. She turned the page to see a couple useless vanquishing spells. As she turned the pages, the spells became more useful. She found an invisibility spell and grabbed a couple post it notes off her dresser to mark the page. Mel continued to turn the pages, marking truth spells, glamouring spells, conjuring spells, hearing thoughts spells, a few common vanquishing spells and of course the reversals.

She then read through the journal portion of the book. It wasn't that useful since he had taken out the parts about her family. She skimmed each of his vanquishes, but the book seemed to stop about six months before the current date. He had even written about his adventures in the wasteland, after he had conjured the book back. Mel quickly got bored and looked up at the clock. It was almost dinner time now.

She listened in to see if she could hear what was going on, but it seemed as if everyone had left or stopped talking. Melinda sighed and grabbed the bag out from under the floor. It was a 3ft by 4ft space that she had conjured years ago. Mel placed the book inside the bag with the rest of the things from the envelope. She closed up her hiding place and unlocked her door. Melinda peeked into the hallway, and upon seeing no one, went up to the attic.

Mel walked over to the book, dropping her bag on the ground by her feet. She took a deep breath and opened it. She sighed; relieved that the book didn't think she was evil. Mel picked it up and went to sit on the couch. She began to copy a few of the pages into the book and replaced the book on its post. Mel looked around the attic, placing a few things in her bag. She then grabbed her bag and snuck back to her room, placing the bag and its contents in her hiding place. The young girl walked over to her closet and pulled out her wallet, before throwing that in the bag too.

She was ready. Her plan may not work the way it was supposed to, but she knew what she had to do. She would wait until midnight. Just then, her mother called her to dinner. She sat down with her whole family and ate in silence, waiting for midnight. Mel talked with her family after dinner, but mostly waited.

She went to bed at the same time as usual so her family wouldn't be suspicious, but all she did was wait. Wait, think and plan.


	17. Between Cole and Melinda

Chapter 17: Between Cole and Melinda

As midnight rolled around, Melinda waited up. Everyone had crashed early, even her mother (who was always the last to sleep) and the house was deadly silent. Mel sat on her bed and used the light from the full moon outside to keep reading the book. She had the bag hugged tightly to her and turned the pages ever so slowly, afraid of being discovered. Discovery is almost the worst thing that could happen at the moment. Mel slid the small bracelet farther up her thin arm and glanced over at her alarm clock.

It was four minutes to midnight. She had four minutes left. Melinda packed up the book and slowly eased herself off the bed so she was standing on the carpet of her room. She slipped on her shoes and walked across the room. Mel slowly opened the door, looking into the hallways and quietly snuck down the stairs, holding the bag to her body.

Mel bit her lip as she looked at the family portrait her family had taken over the summer. She walked over to the fridge and pressed a button. A small menu popped up. She pressed the button that said 'Leave a Video Message'. A camera showed her face on the fridge. She spoke in a quiet voice.

"Mom and Dad, I'm sorry for everything you are going through. I don't mean to put you through anymore, but I can't do this. Wy and Chris, you are the best brothers ever and I love you guys. Please don't come looking for me. You won't find me. I don't belong here. Patience, you are my favorite cousin and best friend. I know you are going to be angry, but don't. I'll send you a message later. I love everyone. Don't ever forget that. I'm doing this to help you. Don't come after me. I have to go. I love you."

Melinda stayed strong as she spoke and hit the end button. She then stepped through the house and to the back door. Mel hesitated as she thought for a moment, but gripped the handle firmly. She whispered a 'good bye' and turned back to the door.

She stepped outside and a cold breeze hit her skin, making her shiver. Mel crossed her arms across her chest and began to walk. She slipped into an alley down the block. "Do I really want to do this?" She asked herself. Memories flooded back to her of all the times her family had neglected her or treated her like she was less. They really never did care.

A little tear fell down her cheeks. She pushed up her sleeve and revealed the small bracelet. She firmly pressed the heart charm and faded away. Melinda reappeared in The Underworld. It was the same place she had been earlier that day- a center space. This time it was much less full. Only a couple people were there. She looked around and tried to find someone she recognized. Melinda walked down a small hallway and began to look for Cole. She wanted to talk to him.

Melinda soon saw Cole talking to Zankou. Mel took a breath and walked straight up to them both. Cole looked up at her and smiled. "Melinda? We knew you would be back, but not so soon. Why come so soon?"

"Because everything you said was true. Everything. They don't care, but you did." Mel said, very nonchalant. Cole wasn't quite sure what to say. He felt honored that she thought that. It was so simple for him to trick her or maybe he was just better at it now. Melinda was so much easier than Phoebe had been. It made him feel a little guilty.

"Mel, how do you really know?" He asked, swallowing.

Melinda looked at him, confused. "What? What you wrote was completely true though. They never cared."

"Uh, well, I suppose you would like to go back to your room then." Cole replied.

"Actually, could I go train for a bit? I'm a little stressed out. Taking my anger out would be nice." Mel explained.

Cole nodded. "Very well. Would you like for me to come with you?"

Melinda thought. "Sure. You were very good at training Aunt Phoebe."

"Okay." Cole nodded again, taking her hand. He flamed out and back into the training room. Melinda took her hand back and walked over to a large bag hanging from the ceiling. She positioned herself in a defense position and shuffled in, landing a quick jab and punch, before shuffling back out. She continued this pattern, moving around the bag.

She kept her back to Cole, but soon her hands got red. She pulled back her hands and uncurled her fingers. Her knuckles were deep red and looked like they had been rubbed at. Cole stepped forward and looked at her hands. "Are you okay?" He asked.

Melinda pulled her hands back. "I'm fine. " She lied.

Cole raised an eyebrow. "You don't look okay. Here." Cole conjured gloves around her hands.

Melinda gasped. "Oh. I'm sorry. Uh, thank you."

"You're welcome. If you come in straighter with your punch, it won't hurt your knuckles as much. I'll show you." Cole stepped up behind her and took her wrists, directing them where to go. Melinda felt the strength in his hands, but didn't pull back. She felt comfortable around Cole. "Do you understand, now?" He asked her.

Melinda nodded. "Yes. So, like this?" She asked, punching into the bag at a slower and straighter angle.

"Yes, like that." Cole praised, stepping back to watch her. Melinda went back to the same routine, this time with straighter punches. It DID ease up the strain on her knuckles and wrists. Cole stood a few feet back, watching the careful and precise movements she made. They reminded him of Phoebe. The way Melinda fought and acted was just like the young and fearless Phoebe he had once known.

After a few more minutes, Melinda switched her feet, moving the other way around the bag and using the other hand to punch. She went back to the angular punches that he had corrected on the other side. Cole stopped her and showed her again on the other side. Melinda nodded, straightening the punches on this side as well.

Mel soon got bored with the rhythmic movements and stepped back. She turned her back foot and shifted her weight as she lifted her front leg up. Mel snapped it off and brought it back to her. Without placing her foot down or shifting back, she snapped off another kick. She did ten of them, before shifting her feet to do ten on the other side. Melinda soon picked up speed, before adding a round kick in with the back foot in-between the front round kicks. Cole watched as her legs flowed through the movements. She soon added the jab punch back in-between the rhythm of the kicks.

Cole and Melinda worked on her kicks and punches for hours, only taking short water breaks. Mel called it quits after a while. She was tired and wanted to go to sleep. It was early morning by now, she assumed. Melinda took off the gloves and put them over on a shelf.

"That was a tough work out." Melinda said.

"Yeah. Do you want to grab a cup of coffee?" He asked, reaching out for her hand.

"Sure, I could use one." She replied, taking his hand. They faded to the kitchen, where Cole made two cups of coffee. Melinda hopped up on the counter and picked out a creamer out of a basket. She picked out a French vanilla. "Cole, what creamer would you like?"

"Uh, just a hazelnut." He replied. Melinda nodded and picked one out. They waited for the coffee to be done, before he poured it into two coffee mugs, mixing the creamer in and taking a seat at a small table. Melinda took a drink and her face immediately looked like a face of pain. He knew she had burnt her mouth.

"OW!" She said fanning her mouth.

"Are you okay?" He asked, concerned as he walked over to the sink. He filled a glass with cold water and handed it to her.

"Yeah. It just hurts." She said, before taking a large swallow of the cold water. It made her tongue feel much better. "Thank you. I feel better."

"Well, that's good." Cole replied, before pausing. He changed the subject. "Well, you want to find out more about us and what we do, correct?"

Melinda nodded. "Sure. Why?"

"There is a meeting today with The Source. You are welcome to attend if you like." Cole explained.

"Okay. That sounds good. What time is it?" Mel replied.

"Time?" Cole laughed. "Whenever the hell The Source gets around to it! She is never on time, nor does she schedule them at "times". She has meetings when she feels like it!"

Melinda smirked. "Wonderful! Well, I'm gonna go chill in my room. I'll probably just do some reading and take a nap. Will you get me when the meeting is?"

Cole nodded. "Sure." Melinda nodded. He watched as she walked away. She could have been Phoebe herself from behind. He found it a bit creepy how she looked so much like Phoebe. She could have been Phoebe's daughter! Even her personality was similar to Phoebe. That's what he liked about Mel. He loved the way he could act around her. She didn't treat him like a demon. He was a normal person to her, just one that knew about magic. And he didn't mind that.

He didn't feel his demonic half around her. He felt fully human, yet he knew that his demonic half was a part of him. It was the main issue when he had dated Phoebe, even after they were married. He couldn't live with it, yet he went crazy without it. He loved the feeling of being human, but wanted the power that came with being demonic.

Cole tried to remember what had made him become the Second Horseman of the Apocalypse. He couldn't remember. The Source had told him it was because he finally wanted to embrace his demonic side, but that didn't sound like him. He didn't want that. He never really had since he had met Phoebe and Melinda reminded him of that. Cole kind of missed Phoebe after meeting Mel. It seemed that she was his connection to Phoebe and his humanity.

Cole was interrupted from his thoughts when Zankou (or War, as he was now instructed to call Zankou) walked into the kitchen. War walked over to the coffee maker and poured himself a cup. He took a large gulp of the black coffee. As he turned around, he spied another coffee mug on the table. War raised an eye brow in question at Strife.

"Strife, what is this!" He demanded.

"Mel just had a cup of coffee with me this morning. You said we should make her feel comfortable around us and that's what I'm doing!" Strife defended himself.

"Mel? So she's Mel now? I think you may be getting too connected with her. I forbid you to have any contact with her unless I am present, understood?" War instructed.

Strife frowned. "Why? I am simply making her comfortable. I'm NOT too connected."

War became angry. "Why! Because you have a history of "getting to know" YOUR clients! If you know what I mean!" War spat, angrily.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Strife asked, angrily.

"You know what that means." War stated, firmly. Strife clenched his teeth, afraid to say something he would regret. He picked up his coffee mug and dumped the remaining coffee down the drain, before walking straight out the door. He didn't look back nor say anything more. War raised an eyebrow at this and shook his head, smirking slightly. Strife would always know that he was the boss (even though technically, they were equal). War simply shrugged and took his coffee with him out of the room.

Strife nearly growled as he threw an energy ball at a demonic servant. The demon screamed and disappeared from the room. He didn't care that he had just vanquished one of his allies. He was irritated. Who was War to tell HIM what to do? Strife growled, before calming down as he heard someone behind him. Strife spun around to come face to face with Mel!

"Cole, what's wrong? I can hear you half way across The Underworld!" Melinda teased, lightly.

"Strife." Strife said, firmly.

Melinda's smiled turned into a frown rather quickly. "What?"

"My name is Strife. Don't call me 'Cole'!" Strife said, rather coldly.

"Cole, what do you mean?" Melinda asked confused at how cold he was being all of a sudden. He was usually pretty kind to her.

"I meant what I said." Strife said, a bit harshly. "My name isn't 'Cole'." He stayed very serious as he spoke.

Melinda was pretty confused with what he was saying. She blinked for a bit to process the info, before she spoke. "Okay. Strife, what's wrong?" The name tasted bitter and evil in her mouth as she asked the question.

"That is none of your business. Now, leave!" Strife instructed, firmly.

Melinda almost jumped back at the tone he used with her. It was as if, he was a different person from earlier that morning. He used to be caring, friendly and almost protective, but now he was cold, harsh and almost mean to her! It made her a little nervous, but she wouldn't back down. "No. I want to know what's wrong."

Strife shook his head. "No. I told you to leave. Go!" He said with a sharper edge to each word.

This did make Mel step back. She raised her hands to her chest in defense. "Okay." She said, glancing at the ground. "If you want to talk, you know where I am."

Strife watched her turn and slowly walk away. The Cole in him tempted him to reach out to her and pull her back, but he didn't. Strife controlled that urge as she walked farther away. He knew he could still call out to her, but he still didn't move or speak.

Melinda walked away confused with what had just happened. She felt almost tricked or betrayed. She began to think about the situation and what could have happened so quickly. What was wrong with him? She walked slowly back to her room. It was the same room she had before, but it felt different now. She was lost and alone. Mel thought about her family and Cole as she lay in her bed. The young woman drifted off to sleep.

Melinda woke up a few hours later to the sound of a knock at her door. She jumped out of bed and walked quickly over to the door. She hoped it was Cole so she could talk to him. Melinda opened the door excitedly, but instead of Cole standing there, it was her brother-Wyatt. Melinda's mouth dropped as she stared at her brother. "Wy-yatt? Wyatt?"

(All chapters I have written are now up so it may take me a little bit longer to update. Reviews inspire me to write faster)


	18. Hows and Whys

Chapter 18: Hows and Whys

Melinda stood there in shock as she looked at her brother. "Wy…!" She was cut off by Wyatt clamping his hand over her mouth.

"Shh!" He whispered, walking into the room and shutting the door before he took his hand off of her mouth.

"What are you doing here?" Mel asked, still shocked.

"To take you back home. Melinda, you don't belong here." Wyatt explained.

"Well, first of all, you can't decide where I belong any more. I'm an adult. Second, how did you get here? Or even find me?" Melinda asked.

Wyatt sighed at her first part. "Well, I sort of followed you. Kind of."

Melinda was slightly angered at his statement. "You followed me? Wyatt! How could you?"

"It was for your own good, Mel. You could have seriously gotten hurt. The Underworld is not a place to hang out. This isn't a game, Mel!" Wyatt exclaimed. "I promise it wasn't to intrude on your privacy." Melinda huffed and walked away. "Mel, please." He pleaded as she slammed an open book on her bed, shut.

"Wyatt, I can protect myself! I'm a responsible adult and I DO have powers, remember. Or did you forget, while you were busy being the all-powerful one? Did you forget that SOME OF US have powers too?" Mel practically shouted at her older brother.

"Please, Mel, calm down." Wyatt instructed.

Melinda lost it. "Calm? I'm calm! Very calm."

"Mel, you are going to alert them! Just come with me and let's go home." Wyatt instructed.

"Wyatt, I'm not going home." Just as Melinda said this, Strife walked through the door.

"Mel, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have exploded at you. It's just I'm not supposed to have contact with you." Cole couldn't get any more out as he had to dodge an energy wave that was thrown at him. Cole ducked, falling to the floor. "What the hell?" He chucked an energy ball back at Wyatt.

"Wyatt! Watch out!" Melinda yelled, pushing Wyatt down. She got hit in the side with the energy ball. Mel fell to the ground, clutching her side. Wyatt jumped up and threw multiple energy waves at Cole, each being deflected. Cole watched Melinda fall to the floor and tried to move toward her, but Wyatt cut him off.

"Oh no. What the hell do you think you are doing?" Wyatt raised an eyebrow. "You will NOT lay a finger on my sister."

"Your sister? You abandoned her. She came here on her own free will." Cole stated, stepping closer to Melinda. "And I can do whatever the hell I want. You don't control me!"

Wyatt snorted. "Free will? How the hell is it free will when you control her and make her think things she wouldn't believe?" Wyatt laughed at this. "I'm here for one reason-to protect and bring my sister home. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. It's your choice."

"Wyatt, I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to. Step away from Melinda and back down or else." Cole said firmly.

Wyatt shook his head. "Or else? Or else what?"

"Or else you will die by my hand, as will your family. Our plans will not be messed up. They will happen as planned and you can't stop that!" Cole replied.

"Over my dead body!" Wyatt exclaimed, shooting another energy wave out at Cole. He then put up the protective force field he had been gifted with. Wyatt held the force field in place as he knelt down and placed his hands over the wound on his sister. A light golden beam emanated from his hands as the wound healed.

Cole was partially wounded by the energy wave, but he stood back up. He called out to the other horsemen. They all faded in, surrounding Strife. War had an angered expression as he watched Wyatt heal Melinda.

War reached out and pushed his hand through the force field. It took an awful amount of energy to do so, but he did. Wyatt ignored War and continued to heal his sister, even as War fought against his force field. Melinda soon opened her eyes and sat up.

"Wyatt? What's going on?" She asked as Wyatt tried to push War's arm back out.

"It doesn't matter. You're safe and we can figure this out later. We just have to get out of here! Grab my hand." Wyatt instructed. Mel gripped Wyatt's hand tightly and he orbed them both home.

Wyatt pulled Melinda close to him as they landed on the kitchen floor. Piper gasped. "Mel? Mel!" Piper reached down and helped her daughter up. "Mel, I missed you so much! We all did! What happened?" Piper pulled her daughter into her and held her tightly as she cried. Tears spilled down her face, as she pushed Melinda's hair out of her face.

"M-Mom… I-I'm sorr-ry!" Melinda cried, hugging her mother. "I d-didn't-t mean to hurt-t you-u!" Mel took a deep breath and began again. "I love you. I just didn't feel that this is where I belong."

Tears flowed steadily down Piper's cheeks as she held Melinda close to her. "Oh Mel, why? Why don't you feel like you belong? We all love you!" All the crying woke up the others and they joined Piper, Melinda and Wyatt in the kitchen.

Chris raised an eyebrow when he saw Melinda and Piper crying. "What's wrong?"

Piper turned and smiled, before looking back towards Melinda. "Go on, honey. We are all here for you."

Melinda took a deep breath and nodded. "I don't know. I just don't. Everyone treats me like I'm just a little kid that needs protecting and maybe I do, but that's beside the point. I want to be able to do things on my own. I know that this is a shared destiny and we have to figure it out TOGETHER, but why can't I branch off and do something on my own."

Wyatt and Chris knew what she was saying was true. They both felt guilty as they realized that they were the ones that caused Mel to run away. Chris's eyes began to water as he pulled his not-so-little-anymore sister into his arms. Wyatt did the same so they were bound in a group hug. "I'm sorry. It's just we love you and can't stand to see you hurt." Chris said, sympathetically.

Melinda began to cry too. "I know. I love you too." They all stood there for a few seconds longer, hugging and crying, before pulling away.

Leo smiled, wrapping an arm around Piper's waist. "Everyone, just go back to bed. We can deal with this in the morning, when we have all had a couple hours of sleep." Everyone glanced at the clock and nodded. Melinda, Chris and Wyatt walked, slowly up the stairs together and crawled into their own beds. Kate followed right behind Wyatt and slid in beside him. Leo and Piper smiled as they watched their kids go upstairs.

Melinda whispered out an 'I love you' even though her brothers were out of hearing distance. She ran her finger along the charm on the bracelet, before unclasping it and setting it in her jewelry box. She had mixed feelings about it. Cole had deceived and lied to her, but he had made her feel so comfortable and at home. She understood what her Aunt Phoebe had meant now when she told her all the stories of her and Cole. Melinda slipped off to sleep, tired and exhausted. Time definitely worked different in the Underworld.

Chris couldn't even cry anymore. In the last couple days his fiancée had died and it had been a close call with his sister, but somehow he knew that he was going to make it through and everything was going to be okay. He fell asleep, thinking about his newly deceased fiancée.

Wyatt knew what his siblings were going through. He had gone through the same things just two years ago and felt very thankful that The Elders had decided to let Kate join him once again on Earth. He smiled through the dark as he turned to face his wife. Wyatt was too exhausted to orb them back home and was happy that Kate had stayed with him. His eyes slid shut, still smiling as he fell silently asleep.

A few days later, marked March 1st. Piper cooked breakfast in silence. Everyone was going to eat here before going to Nikki's funeral. It had been a rough week. Chris had kept pretty much to himself, grieving alone. He only really came out to eat, which wasn't much lately. The whole house seemed gloomy without Chris's sarcastic jokes and chipper attitude. Wyatt and Kate had moved back to their apartment, but came by a lot. Melinda felt better, helping out any way she could. They were fortunate enough that the demons left them alone for a few days.

Piper placed the last dish on the counter, which was already covered in food. Everything from fresh fruit to warm cinnamon rolls. She stopped to admire the food for a second, before the doorbell forced her out of any thoughts she may be happening. She walked over to the front door and let Phoebe and her family in. A cool, spring breeze drifted in through the door and made Piper shiver a bit. The kids took over their spring jackets and hung them up in the closet. They slipped off their shoes and walked over to the table.

Each girl was dress in a beautiful black dress. Patty and Patience were silent as they sat at the table. Even Penny, knew better than to say anything. She looked down at her feet. No one had the stomach to eat a large meal, even though they all knew what an amazing cook Piper was.

Phoebe and Piper hugged each other, tearing up a bit, before pulling away. Coop wrapped an arm around Phoebe and led her over to the table. They both sat in silence as well. Piper headed upstairs and knocked, first, on Melinda's door. She got no response, so she opened up the door.

"Melinda?" Piper asked. Melinda sat by her window sill. She was dressed already and Piper had done her hair into an up do earlier that morning. Melinda turned, when she heard her name, still crying hard. Her make-up was completely ruined, but that was the least of her worries. She pushed a small strand from her bangs out of her eyes and wiped away her tears.

"Yeah?" She responded, barely getting out the word, before the steady stream of salty tears fell down her expressionless face again. She tried to wipe them away, but more kept falling. Piper began to tear up too, but she held them back. She walked over to her daughter and sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close.

Piper rocked back and forth slightly as she spoke. "Patience is here. Come downstairs and eat with us. I'll help you redo your make-up later."

Melinda nodded, not even caring that she didn't need her mom to help her with her make-up. She had been the stupid one to use regular mascara instead of the waterproof stuff. She stood up, walking over to a box of tissues on her dresser. She pulled out a few and stepped in front of the mirror to wipe the make-up from her face. Mel threw away the tissues and took a deep breath, looking at herself in the mirror for a second before turning towards the door and heading downstairs.

Piper nodded. "One down. One to go." She murmured, following her daughter out of the room and moving across the hall to her son's bedroom. She knocked lightly on the door. No answer. She knocked a bit harder before opening the door. Piper noticed Chris was curled up in a tight ball on his bed, staring straight ahead. His eyes were glassed over and he didn't even respond to the movement.

"Chris…" Piper spoke as she moved across the room to sit down next to him. "Chris. Peanut. You have to come downstairs." Piper still got no response. "Come on. I know how you feel. You feel like a chunk of your heart was ripped apart and I understand that. I felt the same way when Prue died. I tried everything to bring her back, but couldn't. I was lost and depressed. That didn't keep me from moving on. You will see her again someday, after all, hasn't Prue come back? She isn't gone from your heart, nor will she ever be, but you have to accept it."

Chris flinched a bit at the word 'died'. He still didn't understand what that meant. He couldn't believe it! She was gone. He looked hurt and depressed and he had every right to be. He had lost his fiancée. Chris had sudden memories flash back to him. In the first he was in the living room of the manor…

"_No! Mom!" A younger version of him screamed. "Wyatt! Leo!" He cried out, draped over a body. Her pulse fell rapidly as three demons shimmered out. He placed his hands over the wounds and cried out. "Damn it! Why won't it work? Wyatt! Leo!" He screamed at the ceiling. No one came. He pushed his mom's hair out of her face and tried to get it to work. "Work! Damn it, Work!" He demanded. Nothing happened. _

_He felt her pulse disappear completely as he sat there in utter frustration and helplessness. He cried hard as his mom's life slipped away. "Mom! Please. Don't die! I need you!" He begged, but everything was pointless. He pulled his mom's body close to him to hug her one last time, before she completely disappeared._

Chris tried to process these thoughts. These memories were not his, but they seemed every bit as real. He wanted to figure this out, but before he could, he was sucked into another memory. No. More like a nightmare.

_He was now standing in the attic, about the same age he was now. He stood face to face with an evil looking Wyatt. His fiancée, Bianca was thrown across the room by a simple fling of the hand. She slammed into a broken piece of furniture and a piece was plunged straight through her stomach. Chris cried out, but she told him to simply keep going. Tears come to his eyes as he says his good-byes and disappears into a time portal._

Chris was completely confused, but he burst into tears. Piper looked at her son, wondering a lot of the same questions. He had the same expression that Phoebe had been she had a really bad premonition. She was curious and concerned.

"Chris… What did you see?"

"Death. You and a woman named Bianca." Chris whispered, trying to sort out what had just happened. "It was one of those flashes of my other life."

"Bianca?" His mother asked. She took a deep breath and remembered 'the other Chris'. "Bianca was you're… I mean… his fiancée. She died too. I think that's why you had that particular "memory"."

Chris bit back as he tried to refrain from crying. "H-how… do you know that?"

"I met her… She tried to kill yo- him. Wyatt, the evil one, sent her to take him back so he wouldn't turn Wyatt good again, but he did succeed." Piper explained.

Chris raised an eyebrow. He was curious about something that his mother never talked about. "What happened to the other Chris?"

Piper bit her lip and turned away for a second. "Paige, Phoebe and I had to do other things, so we left him with little Wyatt. We thought it would be safe, but it wasn't. Gideon, an Elder with messed up intentions, tried to kill little Wyatt with a cursed athame because he believed that Wyatt's crazy amount of power would turn him evil. The other Chris…" Piper stopped for a second, as she was choking up.

"Go on, mom. It's important. What happened?" Chris asked.

Piper nodded. "He… ran to help little Wyatt and got stabbed himself."

Chris raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't someone just heal him?"

"Chris, it was a cursed athame. We couldn't!" Piper explained. Chris couldn't even say anything to that except for an 'oh'. He looked down at the ground. There was an odd silence right then.

"Mom! Chris!" A loud voice called out as he approached the room. Wyatt opened the door and looked at Chris. He looked like an utter disaster. "Oh. Um. Everyone is here. They want to see you guys." Chris simply stood up and walked out of the room in silence. Wyatt waited a second, before turning to his mom. "Is he okay?" Wyatt winced. "Well, of course he's not! His fiancée died. I meant, is he better?"

Piper took a deep breath. "Not really, but he will. Now come on." She choked up as they both went downstairs. She greeted Paige and talked quietly to the others, trying to keep up small talk. Everyone picked at the food, if they even touched it at all, but Piper understood.


End file.
